Sports

Sports are an important part of Touchdown Camp. We walk the children over to a local school and park and they get to play games like kick ball, soccer, hula hoop, water balloons.

Along the way they get to talk to the youth volunteers from Verbo and the adult volunteers from Project Lost Sheep. It is always a joy to see children outside and having fun knowing that these children do not get much of this in their day to day life.

Once in a while we discover a real athlete. This year a camper came to me with a skinned knee. She wasn't going to participate. We sat for a bit. I watched her dash to the restrooms and could see her knees were okay. When she came back I told her she was a really good runner.

"Let's see you run all the way to the end of the field and then meet me back at the bench." Before I could say more she was flying across the field to the end in the most beautiful running form. A natural runner. She was panting when she flopped beside me.

"You are really a good runner," I told her. "When you get to high school, I want you to try out for track." "In the meantime, just remember you really are good at this."

She nodded. "I think I'll go and play," she said and left without a backward glance. Sometimes we need to tell a young person what we see that will guide them in the future. Let's encourage one another. Let's tell someone today what we see that they really do well. Especially, let's compliment a child, a neighbor's or our own.