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 Every
barefooter knows what it’s like to barefoot for the first time…..Painful
right? Well not for everyone, but it’s a sensation like no other water
sport offers. That is the reason why Barefootcentral.com goes to YMCA
camp Grady Spruce every year. We want kids to have that same feeling the
first time we learned.
It was my 3rd trip down to Lake Possum Kingdom, and
Chuck’s 5th trip. We also got Mr. Nolan Lough back on track, and made it
his 3rd trip down. The first day we arrive, we
go straight to Main camp and give the younger kids a little
demonstration to show them what barefooting is all about.
Like every year the water is very rough,
but we always manage to pull off a good show that the kids always love.
After the show “Marv” the organizer of the event lets the
kids ask questions, then all the kids huddle
around for autographs. Nolan was everyone's favorite
again. The kids really seem to relate to him, even though it's
tough to get him to talk sometimes. The first question Nolan gets
every year is: "Do you have a girlfriend?" After the question and
autographs are over, Marv takes us out to eat,
and we all talk about the show and argue who signed the most autographs!
The next Morning is an early
one! We wake up at 5:00 am to take the counselors out before the kids
wake up. Once they are beat up enough, we all
head in for breakfast. The dinner hall is where the kids learn traits
like: team work, manners, being a role model,
and responsibility. They all work together to set the
tables and then clean up after each meal.
After breakfast everyone heads out for the flag raising.
The kids raise the flag and then recite the Pledge of
Allegiance together. Then it’s barefoot ski
show number two. The older kids head
down to the water and wait for us to begin. We
do the same show and the kids love it just as much. Personally it’s a
darn good show for 3 people and no announcer. But
hey, what show would be bad with The CAM!
After the show it’s time for what we really came for,
teaching the kids how to barefoot. We give the kids some dry land
practice, and some warm up stretches to do before we hit the water. Then
we divide up into two groups and meet back at the docks in an hour or
so. At the end of the day we have taken out around 30 kids.
We take the groups out 5 skiers at a time and give everyone a chance to
try it out, then we'll jump out on the boom and give them an up-close
demonstration. Marv even gets out on his Chuck Tailors every now
and then. Mike Bateman is known as Marv by all the kids since that
was his camp name when he was a kid. He learned to barefoot at
Camp Grady and it was his idea to start bringing top level skiers to the
camp to help teach the campers as well as teach the councilors the
proper teaching techniques. And it's not limited to barefooting.
The kids get to waterski, wakeboard, and kneeboard. Marv's goal is
to build Camp Grady's watersports camp in the best camp in the nation
and keep giving kids that wouldn't necessarily have the opportunity to
ski a chance to try it and be around the best skiers in the world.
He has done a great job. He organizes the camp, the boats, the
gear, and finds the pros to come in and donate their time for the kids.
He partners with Dallas based Malibu dealer "Waterski America" to
provide boats, waterski gear & service, and BarefootCentral.com and
Eagle Sports for barefoot gear.
Once we've given all the kids a chance
to barefoot, it's time to pack the truck and do the long drive
back to Lakes of Katy in Houston where Chuck
lives. It's about a 6 hour drive and we end up
fighting over who has to drive and who gets to sleep. I'll let you
guess who looses that argument every time. Let's just say Chuck
and Nolan get home well rested.
The trip every year is very successful. We're
helping make the sport bigger and better by teaching kids the
right way to learn to foot. If you are
interested in helping the sport grow maybe contact a local camp in your
area, or come along with us to camp Grady
Spruce! We do the trip every year the week
after July 4th. I’m sure we will make back for many years
to come. Contact Chuck at
cg@barefootcentral.com if you'd
like to help out.
I think Barefootcentral.com does a great job in helping
our sport grow, and this is just one of the ways they do. Thanks to
Barefootcentral.com for helping make my 3rd year a success at camp Grady
Spruce. And thanks to Chuck and Michelle Gleason for being great hosts
for the past 3 years, I hope to come back again!
And thanks to Chuck in advance for the $500 he is going to be paying me
for the Overhead 360. Maybe we'll incorporate that into the show
next year. LOL!
Are you
interested in sending your child to Camp Grady Spruce?
Click Here
Keep your toes up!
CAM
Chris Morrison
Team BarefootCentral.com
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