My Night at Camp Champions

Last week I had the extreme pleasure of spending the night at Camp Champions, a traditional overnight camp located on Lake LBJ in the Texas hill country. Given that I am a life-long lover of camp, I was really looking forward to being back out at camp. Here are a few things I learned while I was there.

Attitude is everything:

There are a few words I can think of to describe the energy and attitude at Camp Champions: encouraging, loving, grateful. I took part in the weekly counselor meeting where the counselors went around and shared thanks with the other counselors in the group. There was so much gratitude among the group, which was very cool to see. “Thank you for helping me with my home sick camper,” “my campers love instructional swim and I don’t know how you do it, thank you,” and “thank you for always being there for our campers in our cabin.” 

The directors make the difference:

Camp Champions has two great directors, Steve Sir and Susie Maam. They totally get it and are doing an amazing job of leading both the campers and counselors at Camp Champions. Every camp director I have met has had an amazing spark that makes them a great leader. These guys certainly have the spark and then some.

Celebrate often:

Between the lake, camp dance and chicken tender night, I was definitely on cloud 9. But camp isn’t just about fun, while I was there I took part in the torch light ceremony, which honors an exemplary camper. You can spend your entire camp career at Camp Champions and never receive this honor, which is why it is so special. While I was there a young woman who had been a Champion for seven summers was awarded this honor. It was awesome to see her cabin and the entire camp celebrate her and her accomplishments. I love the spirit of celebration at Camp Champions.

I loved my visit to Camp Champions and look forward to spending more time up there as the years go on. After all, I still have dreams of being the camp torch lighter!