Today is Yom Sport, G.U.C.I.’s color war.  It’s a day of spirit, fun, and competition that everyone on camp loves.  We’ll be live blogging this year’s event, so check back throughout the day for new information and photos.  Healthy competition!

8:23—A video comes on the Chadar, describing how red, blue, green, and yellow paint has been found all over camp.  The only thing to do, the video suggests, is to have YOM SPORT!  The campers go crazy with excitement—everyone is jumping and cheering!

8:25—We meet our judges for the day, Jen Kleinrock, Alex Lande, and Brad Hollander.

8:26—The study theme for the day, or the topic that we’ll be learning about, is the seas of Israel!  Everyone is so excited for Yom Yam (Day of the Sea)!

8:27—The first round of the classic cheer, “Healthy Competition,” is started by Anaf unit head Leslie Gubitz.  This cheer reminds everyone that while Yom Sport is a day of competition, it’s important that everyone be good sports.

8:28—The judges tell everyone about the Water Wagon that will be coming around camp with cold water for everyone to drink.

8:30—We meet the Red Team captains, Aaron, Erin, and Allanah.  They really have some great spirit!

8:31—“Red means stop and yellow means slow, green means go so GO GO GO,” Green Team captains Mikey, Rachel, and Jake scream.

8:32—Yellow Team captains Erica, Chad, and Daniel cheer about going bananas.

8:34—We meet the Blue Team captains Allie, Maddie, and Jeff.

8:36—Everyone leaves the Chadar Ochel to go to cabins to learn their teams and dress up.

8:37—A chorus of “Healthy Competition” breaks out for the second time.

FIRST UNIT MEETING

9:00—Yellow team is hanging signs at its meeting location.  The first campers begin arriving to meet their happy captains.

9:07—Blue team is gathering, making blue bracelets for the day.  Counselors and captains are preparing to teach the team cheers.

9:10—Red Captain Aaron helps Shoresh campers get decked out in red colors.

9:14—The Green Team captains are getting everyone quiet to being the first team meeting. “Welcome to the Green Team!” the captains scream.

9:18—Yellow team is receiving yellow blow horns, which the captains are sure everyone on camp will love.  “You guys are on the yellow team,” they scream to get everyone excited.

9:21—Blue team is encouraging its members to cheer for other teams and support everyone throughout the day.  They’ve now broken into the cheer, “Be you wanna be, be you wanna be, L, U, E!”

9:24—Red team is teaching about the Dead Sea, its body of water for the educational theme, Yom Yam.

9:26—A camper suggests a new cheer to the Green Team captains, who will incorporate into their cheers.  Green Team’s assigned Rabbi gets up to explain the importance of the Sea of Galilee.

SPORTS ROTATIONS

9:50—Red Team arrives at the sports field for sports rotations.  Each group of campers from one unit and color will play another group in a variety of sports.  Points are given for ruach (spirit), drinking water, and healthy competition.

9:52—Yellow Team arrives singing the “Spongebob Squarepants” theme song.

9:54—Blue Team pokes fun at the hot summer day by singing, “Brrrrrr, it’s cold in here, it must be the Blue Team in the atmosphere.”

10:05—Shoresh Red and Blue Teams are playing a great game of soccer.

10:17—Blue team links arms to walk together to the next sport rotation.

10:40—The song “Black and Yellow” as been adopted by the Yellow Team for all occasions.

10:50—A Green Team camper helps a Blue Team camper.  Everyone is playing great at sports today.

10:55—A cheer off occurs after sports rotations.

10:57—Yellow Team is doing The Hustle.

QUIZ BOWL

11:14—The quiz bowl is beginning.  During this event, four campers from each color in a specific unit answer trivia questions about the day’s educational theme, Judaism, and camp in general.

11:15—Shoresh Red Team knows the first and last books of the Torah!

11:20—Shoresh Blue Team correctly answered because they knew how to count to ten in Hebrew.

11:21—Another round of the “Healthy Competition” cheer breaks out as everyone takes a water break.

11:28—Gezah Blue Team correctly knew that the Dead Sea is called Yam H’Malach in Hebrew.

11:34—Anaf Red Team knew that the Mercaz Tarboot, our performing arts center, is the newest building on camp.  We all love its air conditioning!

11:37—Anaf Green Team shares that the acronym Rambam refers to Maimonides.

11:43—Avodah Yellow Team answers that Mogen David Adom is the name of the Israeli ambulance system.

11:47—It’s now time for the staff round of the quiz bowl.  The campers will be very upset if they don’t know all the answers.  Two Green Team Anaf campers go to give a quick pep talk to their quiz bowl representatives.

11:54—With only the beginning of the question, “What are two cities in the Bible,” Red Team staff knew the answer was Sodom and Gomorrah (the rest of the question was, “that were located to the south of the Red Sea).

12:05—The campers have free time since the quiz bowl has ended.  They’ll be going to silent lunch in about twenty-five minutes.

SILENT LUNCH

12:35—The campers are congregated in their color teams to go into the Chadar Ochel for lunch.

12:43—The captains are all sitting together in the center of the room while the rest of the campers sit divided by team.  Everyone is happy because lunch is chicken patties.

1:06—A toast is made to quiescently frozen confections as we eat fudge bars for dessert.

1:17—Captains lead Birkat, the prayer following meals.

1:25—Song session is crazy.  We are singing “Sweet Caroline” and “Don’t Stop Believing.”

1:30—Camp is dismissed for an extended menucha, or rest time.

TEAM MEETING TWO

3:05—Avodah meets to help set up for the marathon, which is a giant race all around camp.  Every person participates in some way, whether that be the bottom part of a giant pyramid or skipping while singing camp songs.

3:10—Green Team decides who will be doing which tasks for the marathon.

3:15—Shoresh Blue Team members decorate their area of the Tarboot for the final program of Yom Sport later tonight.

MARATHON

3:45—The marathon is starting!

3:46—Marcus L., in Cabin 17, says Yom Sport “is fun to get into and is fun to experience.”

3:48—Anaf campers sit in front of fans preparing to thread a needle for the marathon.

3:50—“I really enjoy being able to lead on the younger campers and pass on my favorite parts on Yom Sport to them,” says Carly S. in Cabin 9.

3:58—Campers are waiting on the sports field to be tagged, then shoot a basket, and then wheelbarrow race to the tennis courts.

4:01—Yellow Team is in the lead!

4:04—Yellow and Blue Teams are tied in the wheelbarrow part of the marathon.  Who will win?

4:10—Blue team wins the marathon!

4:17—We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve done the “Healthy Competition!” cheer.

4:19—It’s time to watch a video of the marathon so everyone can see all of the action.  Assistant Camp Director Max Klaben made an awesome video mash up!

FREE SWIM

4:30—Time for the pool!

4:45—Campers are so happy to cool off in the pool.  Everyone is swimming and having a blast.

5:15—Free time!  We’ll all meet back for a picnic dinner later tonight.

6:12—There’s a cheer off to decide which team will get dinner first.

FINAL UNIT MEETING

7:15—The teams go off into their locations for a final unit meeting.

7:29—The Yellow Team is rehearsing the song they’ll sing at the final program tonight.

7:31—Blue Team works on the choreography for their final song.  Team Captain Jeff and counselor Jacob Kraus have their guitars ready to go.

7:34—Captains Aaron, Erin, and Allanah lead the red team in a version of Coldplay’s song “Viva La Vida.”  As they transition into their second song, two Anaf campers are dancing in the back of the room.

7:37—Green team’s cheer is accompanied by counselor Alli Diamond’s ukelele.

FINAL PROGRAM

8:03—The first teams begin to arrive in the Mercaz Tarboot for the final evening program.

8:10—Song leader Sam Pollak leads G.U.C.I. in a Yom Sport version of Debbie Friedman’s “Miriam’s Song.”  Each team has its own verse, and everyone is jumping and screaming the chorus.

8:14—The Green Team is going to present its final song, skit, and cheers.  They’re singing about how they’re “all about the ruach.”  Everyone is singing in unison and the ukelele playing is lovely.

8:18—Green Team goes on stage to do its skit.  It’s about their body of water, the Kinneret.  They’re dropping some “fresh” beats because the Kinneret has fresh water.  A camper is break dancing as the rest of the team rapping about the Kinneret.

8:23—The Red Team begins its skit about the Dead Sea.

8:27—The lights go out and a red spot light comes on for Red Team’s song—a techno jam.

8:34—Yellow Team just finished its skit.  Now everyone is grabbing a guitar to play the team’s final song.  The team has gotten into an outward-facing circle.

8:39—Yellow Team has broken into its final cheers.  Counselor Charles Stone is sporting gold leggings over his shorts.  The team is doing The Hustle again.

8:41—The Blue Team is performing a skit about countries competing for a claim to the Mediterranean Sea.  They’ve done an excellent job incorporating current events into their presentation.

8:46—Blue Team sings, “Running on the sports field, cheering through the day, we all need some hydration, from the blue team’s crashing waves” to the tune of Dan Nichol’s song “Redemption.”

8:52—Everyone is cheering for all the hard work the Yom Sport captains did today.  They did a great job!

8:53—While the judges deliberate, it’s time for a DANCE PARTY!

8:58—Everyone is freaking out because we’re dancing to the Macarena, the Hustle, and the Electric Slide.

9:09—The judges have returned to announce the winner of Yom Sport.

9:10—In fourth place, we have…. THE RED TEAM!

9:11—A hush falls over the room as it is announced that third place is THE GREEN TEAM!  Everyone is cheering and so excited even though they didn’t win.

9:12—The judges will now announce that in second place is… THE BLUE TEAM!  YELLOW TEAM WINS YOM SPORT!  Everyone is going crazy!  Another round of “Healthy Competition” breaks out.

9:13—The judges lead camp in a round of “The G.U.C.I. Rumble.”  Every person, no matter whether they won or lost, is participating.

9:14—All of the colors mix together as campers move around the room to watch the slideshow of the day.

9:25—“This is my twelfth Yom Sport and this is the first time I have ever won.  It was amazing!” Jillian Shkolnick, Cabin 6 counselor, says.

9:30—Services begin for the campers.  These are led by the Yom Sport captains, who have all written about their hopes for the day.  Then, everyone will go to sleep after a long, but incredibly fun, day.