SHORELINE — The next generation of Olympians was on display last week as the Shoreline/South County YMCA staged its own version of the Summer Games.
More than 130 campers ages 5-12 representing a variety of YMCA summer programs participated in the July 27 event. Sports Illustrated For Kids, NBC and Office Depot are partnering with youth organizations to put on similar Olympic-themed camps this summer at 16 other sites nationwide.
“At least once over the summer we try to bring all the programs together, but it’s very unique for us to do something of this capacity,” said Phillipa Bell, community program director for the Shoreline/South County YMCA. “Usually we’ll have a family event, which means barbecuing and camp games. This is different for us.”
Just like the upcoming Athens Games, the YMCA’s version of the Olympics featured lavish opening ceremonies. After an energetic parade of countries and torch lighting, three former Olympians addressed the athletes.
Tracie Ruiz-Conforto, who captured a pair of synchronized swimming gold medals at the 1984 Summer Games and a silver in 1988, encouraged the campers to find a sport or activity they enjoy and stick with it through thick and thin.
John Stillings read the Olympic Creed and talked about how the message that “the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle” prompted his return to competitive rowing nearly 20 years after he earned a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics.
Campers then bombarded two-time U.S. Olympic boxing team member Robert Shannon with an array of questions, ranging from “What are your two favorite sports?” to “Did you ever fight Mike Tyson?”
The latter drew a chuckle from Shannon, who was ranked as high as ninth in the world as a professional before retiring in 1990.
“If there’s one thing the kids really enjoy it’s meeting new people, especially if they’ve done cool stuff,” Bell said. “If we have people come out who have been involved in some sort of event and give the kids the opportunity to learn about something new, they get excited about it.
“You’d think they might be bored stiff because they don’t know what synchronized swimming is or they’ve never watched rowing before. But they get excited because it’s something different.”
Following the speeches, the campers had their Olympic T-shirts signed by Ruiz-Conforto, Stillings and Shannon and carefully inspected the medals and photographs the Olympians brought to share.
“The minute they were told they were going to be meeting Olympians and they were going to have the opportunity to get autographs and compete in different sports, they were very excited,” Bell said.
YMCA staffers spent much of July preparing for the Olympics and deciding which activities to incorporate. There was an arts and crafts table where athletes fashioned their own medals, as well as soccer, volleyball, track and field, badminton and rock climbing stations.
“We’ve never played this many games,” raved Joe Ghedrehiwot, of Shoreline.
The highlight for the 11-year-old came during the relay races.
“A bunch of younger kids beat the older kids,” he said. “That was fun.”
Staying true to YMCA protocol, the games focused less on winning and losing and more on teaching campers about the Olympic spirit.
“We try to de-emphasize the competition,” Shoreline/South County YMCA branch executive Terry Pollard said. “We want them to see they can compete and participate and feel good about it. I think we’ve really accomplished that.”
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