by Gal Atia, Program Director
We did something new this year – we started Yom Sport a week in advance, with the Nivonim staff choosing four campers to be color captains to plan and get everything ready for Sunday evening.
On Tuesday the Nivonim color captains ran around camp announcing that Yom Sport is coming, assigning campers to different teams and signing them up for all the different activities. On Thursday afternoon all campers were divided into three different activities: some made amazing banners in Omanut, some learned new cheers led by our Shira staff (songleaders) and Tzvet Ivrit (Hebrew staff) and the third group choreographed a dance for the Yom Sport opening ceremony.
On Sunday evening, the Yom Sport captains ran down from the new Givah, gathered the campers on their teams together and brought everyone to sit near the outdoor stage for the opening ceremony. With unbelievable enthusiasm the campers cheered as their team’s banners and dances were presented.
After dinner there was a huge campwide relay race led by Rosh Sport Dedi Bitton and the sports staff. We then gathered for the presentation of the 2017 Yom Sport fire sign made by campers in the Machon intensive camping program with the camping staff. Older campers played Capture the Flag and had a lot of fun running around camp protecting and trying to capture the flags of the other teams.
On Monday our campers played volleyball- dodge ball- basketball-soccer- freeze dance-scavenger hunt and home run derby until lunch, and did their best to gain more points for their team. After eating a silent lunch (an amazing Yom Sport tradition that actually works), there was a much-needed sha’at menuchah (rest time).
In the afternoon we continued with mixed-age teams playing gaga-water polo-water volleyball- ultimate Frisbee- flag football-water relays on the blob and our new floating obstacle course, and more fun games.
As we got closer to the final event, we gathered on the kikar for an energized tug of war competition, with everyone cheering and supporting their friends.
We then cheered the swimmers from each team as they swam from the island and passed a baton to the color captains so they could start lighting a fire to burn the rope above it. Amidst incredible cheering, the first team to succeed was …….אדום, the Red Team! It has been seven summers since the Red Team won, so this was a big deal!
We all sang המנון רמה, our camp song, and then Nivonim rushed into the lake – another super fun camp tradition!
