Europa Cup 1 started and ended the same way today – with Burpees. The campers did 50 upon arrival and finished with 50 before the nightly meeting. In between was control, chaos, movement, learning and challenges!
Our first little challenge was the downpour of rain at exactly 3pm, so we stayed in the gym and rotated through five race challenges. It always amazes me how athletes respond to challenges and push each other to go faster. Teamwork and communication with 8-11 year-olds is fun to watch. It starts off slow, but once they start talking, they invent ways to solve problems. Inside the gym we did Ava’s Cone Relays, The Plank challenge, Berg und Tal , and Fit Light.
After the rain, we headed out to the ELITEAM woods to practice the Obstacle Course, which will be one of the events on Saturday. The recent rains made the course slippery and tough to have a perfect run. I saw Win fall three times on one gate! Memorizing the course was priority one so they could visualize it before going to bed.
After a huge dinner of spaghetti, meatballs, salad and fruit, it was back to the fields for some fun agility. First off it was Boys vs Girls in the Dowel Race. The boys took second place to the overall winning girls. Then it was a solid hour of Slalom Pole games and races. The photos speak for themselves.
We finished off the night with some journal work and the campers filled out some Blog cards. The following are quotes from the kids:
Toughest part of the day:
Race – “Burpees. To get through them I just focused hard.”
Thomas – “Burpees. But I just found a different way to do them and they were easier.”
Lindsay – “Burpees, but I just relaxed and got through them.”
Raymond – “Berg Und Tal. But it helps my lower body strength and quickness.”
Molly – “The very slippery climbing wall. I pushed through it by holding on tight.”
Ellie – “The Obstacle course because there were a lot of fun challenges.”
Lastly, I asked Raymond what he was feeling like after we finished the last of our workouts. He said, “Happy and ready for more burpees…”
I think they all were ready for bed. And so am I.