July, 1 2010 -

June, 23 2010 -

2009 Chikopi Football – Year in Review – The 90^th year of Chikopi Football – By Coach Dave MacNeil

After a one year hiatus, the Football program was back at Chikopi in full force in 2009 and the Chikopi coaches and staff could not have been more proud of the effort that was put into the football program by the Chikopi campers and counselors this past summer.

As you know, the football program at Chikopi teaches the basic fundamentals of the game of North American football (the rules of both the American and Canadian games are explained) and while we practice fundamentals such as passing, catching, as well as punting and kicking, the game played at camp is a little different from the regular game of football and for that reason it is known as “CFL” or the “Chikopi Football League”. While CFL follows certain basic rules of the game of football, it also has a little twist – Once the ball is snapped and the play starts there is no line of scrimmage and a team and its players can pass forward and then backwards and then forward again until touched by two hands of any opponent from the other team. Due to the great athletics abilities of the campers it makes for an exciting game. The game over the past seven (7) years has taken a life of its own and I was happy to hear the chants for “CFL, CFL”, during the dinner periods.

This year also marked the first year that the special football awards were handed out at Chikopi. The award is meant to symbolize both the sport of football and Chikopi all in one and what better way to do that than by having a special Camp Chikopi Football Jersey. Each green jersey had “Camp Chikopi” written on the front of it as well as the number “20” on the front and back, which represents the founding year of the camp, 1920 (see the attached picture).

After a solid performance by all campers in the annual “Punt pass and Kick competition”, I could tell that the 2009 year was one to remember. We had a great group of Junior, Midley and Senior Campers who showed that they had great technical skills and had the heart to learn and play the game. Some campers had never played the game until this year but proved to be very skilled at the game and many campers who had been at camp for many years prior showed such great improvement and that it made it very tough to choose a winner for each age group. In the end the winners in each age group were decided based on the following factors: Overall Effort, sportsmanship, teamwork, skills and most of all heart. In the end it was very close and many campers were vying for the coveted football Jersey. The staff were very pleased to award the inaugural Camp Chikopi football Jerseys to the following campers:

Junior: Mario Mendoza

Midley: Alex McMillan

Senior (Tie): Geoff Cloud and David Dubrovsky

I can see that next year’s campers will be even better as they have learned so much and all I can say is that former Chikopi football coach and legend Wally Weber (former University of Michigan Football assistance coach) would have been very proud of this year’s team. We look forward to another great year of Football at Chikopi, as well as all other Chikopi sports, in the summer of 2010.

Keep training football players and we’ll see you on Weber Field next summer.

Fall is upon us and winter is fast approaching as more then two months have already flown past since most of us left Chikopi. I have never felt more motivated than and as energized as I did when camp had ended this year. We had such a great group of campers and councillors that it made my job that much easier and that much more enjoyable. Unfortunately the weather did not agree with what we had planned for the summer, but there was no stopping the energy and the team-work and the good sportsmanship that was shown throughout the 7 weeks this past summer. To think that we could see our breath in July in the middle of the day because it was so cold and yet we never had a moment where we were not full of that Chikopi spirit. It was great to see such a refreshing group of people coming together and making experiences and memories that will last a lifetime.

When the 7-week camp had ended I was lucky enough to stay at camp for the greater part of the Two-Week camp. Originally my plan was to stay and help the new campers move in and then take off to Florida, but as all of you know it is hard to leave Chikopi. I pushed my departure back and back and back until I had run-out of time and I had to leave to attend to other commitments.

The day I left camp I made it to Barrie for a good nights sleep in my old bed, then the next morning, still with my car full of my stuff from camp headed on another adventure driving down to Florida; where I am currently working with Athletes’ Performance. On my drive down to Florida I made a surprise visit to Greg Gerum at the University of Western Kentucky, I was only able to stay for lunch but it is always nice to see a familiar face so far from home. If there is one thing that every one of us can take from Chikopi is the value of friendship and the connections we can make with people from every area of this world that come from a plethora of religious and cultural backgrounds. It is those connections and relationships that make us who we are and can lead us to worlds otherwise unknown. One of those people that have made me who I am is Coach Dick Bower, whom I have recently spoken to. He says hi to everyone and we all have him and his family in our prayers as his wife and great friend Barbra fights against cancer.

Friends I have made at Chikopi and Ak-O-Mak have brought me to live in Australia, Baltimore, and Sudbury and supplied a home away from home in city’s and countries all over the world. Now I am on another exploration down in Florida where I am interning with a company called Athletes’ Performance.

Athletes’ Performance is an Elite Athlete training facility with a few locations across the United States. I have already learned more then I ever could have imagined in such a short amount of time, everyday I work alongside some of the world’s best athletic trainers and performance coaches from a varying array of sports backgrounds. We work with the very best athletes in the world from the NHL to MLB to the NFL and the NBA. As well we work with those athletes preparing for University or those trying to make it into the major leagues. It’s a very exciting experience that I hope I can share even a fraction of with all of you up at Chikopi.

Another new area I have just become part of is the “post-sport” world. We always talk about fitness-for-life at camp, and early bird being a large part of that. Having retired from competitive swimming earlier this year I tried working-out on my own for a while but I need the social aspect of sport, so about a month ago I joined the local Masters swimming group and am having a great time! For right now I am down in Florida until Christmas from there I am off again to pursue whatever interesting opportunities’ I can find. Stay focused, stay positive, have fun, try new things and do everything in the spirit of a true CHIKOPI MAN!

Welcome to the new Camp Chikopi website!