It was great to see so many Warrior boys smiling and exuding such enthusiasm as they shared their first two weeks’ experience with their parents during their FaceTime calls this morning. As someone once said, “Necessity breeds invention,” and due to Covid and the inability to have visiting day last year, we replaced the traditional phone call with a FaceTime call; these helped parents feel more connected to their sons. There’s nothing better than looking in the eye of your child and seeing a smile, therefore we will continue to incorporate FaceTime calls as we move forward into the future.
Today, our 12- and 14-year-old boys were once again in action competing against another neighboring camp. We’ve packed a lot in this week, and our boys rose to the occasion. This is the time in the season when I usually write about “point of struggle.” During the staff orientation and throughout the summer, I constantly reference “point of struggle” because it comes up so frequently.
This morning, a little boy refused to play during a Warrior basketball game. He was diverting attention away from the game because he felt insecure when he was on the court. The basketball counselors patiently tried to encourage this little boy to join, but the more they singled out the child the more upset he became. While one might think that the patience and empathy of the counselor would win over this little boy, he was stuck at the “point of struggle.”
I was called over to the basketball court and observed this camper being a little stubborn and obstinate. I sat down on the bleachers next to him and watched the game without giving this child any added attention. Later that day during lunch, I sat next to the boy and asked him if he participated in any basketball programs at home. He quickly replied that he’s never played basketball because he’s involved in other activities during the winter sports season at home.
I asked him if he would be interested in going to the basketball court with our basketball counselor during rest hour when no other campers were on the court and if he would be open to a little private instruction so that he would feel more comfortable the next time he went to his league basketball game. This little guy’s face lit up with enthusiasm. During his point of struggle, there would be no way to communicate with him. He dug in and was not going to be open to participating with his peers. However, giving him a little time and separation from the experience and revisiting it at a calmer moment created a much different result.
This occurs in camp virtually every day: the child who walks into the dining room and says there is nothing to eat regardless of how many options we offer; the little boy who tries water skiing and after one attempt wants to swim back to the dock. As adults, we are often looking for closure so that we can move on to something else, yet sometimes during moments of stress, it’s best to take a step back and revisit the issue at a later date.
Now, I’m not going to say in my twenty years of marriage that I’ve ever had to use this strategy with my wife because I can’t think of a moment when I was in a “point of struggle.” However, should it ever occur in the future, I would try this tactic in my own life.
