We all know that feeling as parents, when our children rise to the occasion to make us proud. Today, our boys made us proud. We hosted the Takajo Tennis Invitational, which is the largest inter-camp tennis tournament in the state; neighboring camps bring their best, in hopes of dethroning our boys.
Before the tournament began, we took a moment to celebrate the life of one of Takajo’s finest, Gary Ong– an incredible man, a phenomenal friend and mentor, and the chairman of this tennis tournament for many years, who lost his battle to cancer, just one year ago. While many of our boys didn’t get to meet Gary, they saw the tears in our eyes as so many key staff members came up to the courts for the special tribute.
Gary would have been proud of us today, for so many reasons. We were the only camp dressed in a camp uniform. Our counselors looked professional in their staff shirts, and worked tirelessly, covering all 17 courts and hundreds of matches throughout the day. We were even faced with a brief downpour of rain, which delayed the matches, but our staff and players grabbed squeegees, to clean the courts, so that play could resume.
I saw some of the best tennis that I have ever seen played on the Takajo courts. Our boys never gave up. While we fought back from tie breakers and won the tournament decisively, the match that stands out in my mind was our 15-and-under singles. This match featured two of our campers, who are great friends and bunkmates competing against each other in the finals. Both were playing in the tournament for their last time. The match came down to a tiebreaker and was one of those matches that you hated to see someone lose.
As the boys hugged at the net after a hard-fought battle, there was no gloating. The winner had the utmost respect for his friend and bunkmate who took him to the end. As we walked away from the courts today, I can’t help but think that our boys appreciate that we are not only a camp, but we are a family, and that our dear friend Gary was in our thoughts and will remain in our hearts forever.
Arch Ideal: Loyalty
- Today in Warrior Camp, the Warrior Braves went out on their Little Trip. They left this morning for an arcade and game center and returned this evening. The boys enjoyed some fun, food, games and family bonding.
- It was a big day for tennis at Camp Takajo today. We hosted the annual Takajo Tennis Invitational tournament against a handful of visiting camps.
- Yesterday our 11-year-olds went to Camp Winaukee, and our 12-year-olds stayed at Camp Takajo for a Field Day consisting of soccer, basketball, baseball, lacrosse and hockey. Today, the 12-and-under basketball teams both went 2-1 in games at Camp Wildwood and here at Camp Takajo. Tomorrow, the 13-year-olds will be playing hockey at Camp Cedar and at Camp Skylemar. The 15-year-olds will be at a lacrosse tournament at Cedar.
- Today down at the waterfront, we are preparing for the Camp Takajo Invitational Swim Meet. Six camps will come to Takajo to compete. We are trained and prepared. Swim the Lake preparations are underway and going strong. The general swim period and instructional swim classes went well today.
