HEMLOCK 2010

Special thanks to Coach Kevin Ahearn (Cub Run morning) for setting up this group team building event. A great time was had by all 31 swimmers who attended.

Photos by Coach Bill and Coach Kevin.

GO MARLINS!

On October 23rd, thirty-one Potomac Marlin swimmers spent the afternoon at Hemlock in Centreville, VA for some team building and leadership fun.  Many of the challenges were to foster team building and communication skills and thru that process,  leadership skills were developed. 

Our day started off with a large “get to know each other” group activity.  After that we were split into two groups that were randomly chosen.  Coach Kevin went off with one group while I stayed with the other group.  Kevin and I were to stay silent and not give out any suggestions or directions to the group and let me tell you, this was no easy task on our part.  At times we just wanted to scream out the obvious but it was up to them to figure it out…some did better than others.

My group’s next activity was to try to catch tennis balls.  The object was to catch one, then that person throws it up for another person to catch while another ball is introduced and so on.  The goal was to catch as many at one time as they could.  Needless to say we did not do so well at this activity as there was no group communication at first, then no real plan after that.  We finished with 6 tennis balls out of a possible ten in play.  Kids thought this was pretty good but it was only 60%...not very good guys!  (FYI…60% on a math test is a failing grade for most of you).

We moved on.  Next was the survival raft.  The object of this activity was to get everyone onto the raft and balance it for a minimum of 15 seconds.  No sides were allowed to touch the ground or they had to start all over…no easy task with 15 kids.  Here we did a little better.  A plan was formed…didn’t work, then another plan was formed.  This one worked though the leadership was lacking.  Our group completed this task.   Off to the next.

My group’s next task was to stand on a log.  After taking up a position on the log, they were instructed to rearrange themselves in order of the month of their birthday.  Only catch was they could not fall off the log and they could not talk.  If you fall off, you get back on in your previous position and try to move again.  After several attempts, we were successful at this task and I started to see some sort of a plan form and some good teamwork…maybe they were going to get the point of all this after all.  On to the next.

We arrived at the zip line in time to see Coach Kevin’s group finishing up their turn.  This was the favorite activity for just about everyone.  The zip line was a confidence builder.  Here the kids had to climb a ladder to a platform about 20 feet off the ground.  They then had to walk across a thin wire cable to get to the zip line platform about 15 yards away.  Once on the zip line platform you “hugged the pole” until the guide hooked you up to the safety line for your 100 yard ride down the zip line, 40 feet above the ground!  This was a lot of fun (even I did this one).  Kids did not like the walk back up to the tower!

Our group then made its way to the infamous peanut butter pit but our guide had one little surprise in store.  The kids had to partner up and on the way to the pit, one partner was blindfolded.  It was up to the other partner to guide them down a twisting hill full of tree roots and fallen trees to the pit.  Oh yea, did I mention that they were not allowed to touch the partner or talk most of the way?  Some pairs did better than others at this and after several stumbles, bumps on the head going under fallen branches,  and laughter, we made it to the pit.  The pit is filled with water with a rope swing in the middle.  Only thing is, the rope swing is just out of reach and in the middle of the water pit.  The kids had to figure out how to get the rope and swing each team member over the pit w/o getting wet or falling off.  Oh Yea, half the group is still blind folded and have no clue what was going on.  The person chosen to reach for the rope was blindfolded and the first to go across the pit were the blind folded kids.  Some very good team work happened here and some good leadership skills were learned.  The kids made it across with only one minor mishap…SPLASH.  Lots of Laughter and one half wet swimmer later, we moved on to the next task.

 

The giant spool was next.  Here the kids had to figure out how to get their entire group up and over this giant spool that rotated.  The group accomplished this task very well.  They were now working very well as a team.  Plans were well thought out and executed.  No problem, Great Job.  Meanwhile, Coach Kevin’s group was tackling “The Wall”.  Here the concept was the same and again, the group did very well.

Since our group was doing so well, our guide decided to allow them to take some risks and learn to put trust in each other.  He took them to the falling platform.  Here the kids had to stand in two lines facing each other with arms interlocked.  One lucky person was selected to stand on the 6 foot high platform and fall backwards into the arms of her teammates.  After several kids did this an added element of risk was added for those that volunteered.  This person laid on the ground under the catchers arms.   Scary, but fun.  Kids did great. On to the next.

The next task for our kids was to thread the needle.  Here one swimmer had to lay flat, holding an open bottle of water and be passed thru a tire suspended about 6 feet off the ground without touching the sides and without spilling any water.  This took about 2 minutes to accomplish. The guide was impressed and the kids were really working well together now.  Teamwork!  On to the next.

Our final small group task was to retrieve a treasure bucket on the other side of a toxic swamp. Our toxic swamp took a little bit of imagination as it was just a square made out of tree branches but rules are rules.  Anyway, the kids had to stay on a platform about 10 feet away and 5 feet off the ground and figure out how to get our treasure bucket back to the platform without touching it with their hands. The equipment given to us were two PVS poles and two climbing ropes.  This one took a fairly long time for them to figure out and they all had the right idea and were following a very well thought out plan but in the end, they saved the bucket but lost the treasure into the toxic swamp.  They got an “A” for effort though.

Our final task brought us all together again.  In this final exercise, our entire group of 31 kids had to figure out how to cross a single wire about a foot off the ground to a pole about 15 feet away, then across another single wire to a platform where they would make a bridge from a plank to get to another pole to cross another wire to another pole and across a final wire.  The team started at both ends and worked towards the middle.  Once a single person made it to the other side from either direction, that person became a stationary “tree” and the kids use that person for assistance to get across the wires.  If you fell off the wire you had to start over.  The more trees you could produce the easier it became for the rest of the group.  This took about 30-40 minutes for them to accomplish but in the end they did it.

In summary, Coach Kevin and I felt the afternoon spent at Hemlock was a lot of fun and that our swimmers took a lot away from their experiences.  It is our hope that they will take what they learned and apply it towards their team and teammates.  Together we can take Potomac Marlins to even greater levels of success.  All it takes is some leadership, communication, support and great teamwork.  All of these things they learned one afternoon in Centreville at Camp Hemlock.

Coach Bill