Power Pros Forum

Xander Woods had gone to the same camp every year since kindergarten, and this summer would be no different. He had gotten his invitation in late March and was already signed up by the time Easter rolled around a few days later.

This year, though, he would not be attending alone, as he had done in the past.

“Hey, Anthony! You ready for camp?” Xander bellowed as he stepped out of the car at the Mangums’ house.
“Heck yeah!” Anthony hollered back as he lugged his duffel bag out the door. With a little help from Xander and his dad, he was able to put the bag in the trunk of Mr. Woods’ candy-red Corvette.

“Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! Bye, Zach!” Anthony tousled his little brother’s hair as he squeezed into the back seat.
“Why does he never say good-bye to me?” ten-year-old Annie wondered as the Corvette sped off.
“Probably ‘cause no one likes you,” Zach snapped, and a bit of a scuffle broke out, although it was quickly stopped by their parents.

Meanwhile, in the Corvette, Xander offered Anthony the aux cord to play some music for the hour-long drive to the campsite.

What do you do? (PowerPro Jr)

A. Play hip-hop
B. Play classic rock
C. Play pop music
D. Play a variety of genres
E. Decline politely

Let's go with D

Anthony put his iPod on shuffle and plugged in the aux cord. Future’s “March Madness” started playing through the Corvette’s speakers.

“Dude! I love this song!” Xander said as he rapped along to the first verse — being careful not to repeat any cuss words in front of his dad, who let the song slide even though he objected to the language.

After a short track from an old Flying Lotus project, a short run of ‘60s songs started with the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby”. Anthony glanced down at the iPod and saw that three more songs from the decade were next up in the queue.

“Hope you guys like the ‘60s,” Anthony said.
“Heck yeah,” Xander said, bringing a smile to the face of his father, who had tried to pass on his love of all genres of music to his son but especially classic rock.

After a handful of other songs, ranging from modern electronic and pop to classic rock and even a Miles Davis tune, they finally arrived at the camp grounds.

(Anthony: XP +5)

“You’ve got great taste in music, dude,” Xander commented as the two boys walked toward the camp’s front gate, which read “CAMP SHERMAN” in big letters. A young woman directed them to the sign-in table, and as the boys had already turned in their forms online, they were allowed to march right on in — once they had put on a name tag, of course.

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Meanwhile, back in San Diego, summer ball was getting off the ground, and the Oceanside Panthers were getting ready for their first tournament the following weekend. With a roster that included Ug Li, Thurgood Stubbs, Harold Henderson, and Matthew Simpson, they were generally a tight-knit bunch — and they weren’t that bad at baseball either.

The team’s practices were led by one Coach Williamson, a former minor-leaguer with a friendly, yet commanding presence. He liked to switch up his lineups based on who was performing the best and working the hardest in practice, but he hadn’t made any judgments yet — probably because this was the team’s first practice, and he didn’t even know any of the players’ names or positions.

Speaking of which, you should probably tell him your position… (Tdud123, LetsGoMets77, Baseballteen9500)

A. Pitcher only
B. Catcher
C. Infielder
D. Outfielder
E. Pitcher-plus (you pitch but also play a position)
F. Utility (you have to play a variety of positions)

I don't know what position I gave my guy at the beginning, so I'll just go with E, Pitcher Plus second base

A, starting Pitcher

F because he's that good

Xander scratched out his name onto a name tag and slapped it on his T-shirt. “Let’s go!” he shouted gleefully.

Anthony, meanwhile, took his time designing his name tag, and carefully placed it on his shirt once he had finally finished.

An anxious Xander darted into the camp’s main area, where he immediately spotted some of his friends from past camps and jogged over to them, dragging Anthony along with him. The other kids immediately embraced the two of them, and the group even managed to get assigned to the same cabin, where they joined a few other boys to drop off their stuff and lay claim to the top and bottom bunks on the five beds in the room. Once they had all settled in, the boys went back outside.

“Wanna play football?” one kid asked, holding up a ball he had brought. The other boys immediately agreed and started dividing into two teams.

“Okay, so me and Danny can be wide receiver, Jackson can be our blocker… what position do you want to play, Anthony?”

What do you want to play? (PowerPro Jr)

A. Quarterback
B. Running back
C. Wide receiver
D. Blocker
E. “I don’t want to play”

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The team went around the circle introducing themselves:

“I’m Thurgood Stubbs. I play pitcher and second base, and I’m in the seventh grade at Walker Grove.”
“My name’s Ug Li, I’m a starting pitcher, and I’m a seventh-grader at Walker Grove.”
“The name’s Harold Henderson. Utility-man extraordinaire and seventh-grader at Walker Grove.”
“I’m Matthew Simpson. I pitch and I’m in seventh grade at Walker Grove.”

…and so on, until all 39 kids at the tryout had introduced themselves. Among the more notable of them were a tall, lanky boy named Dax Wilson and a blonde-haired girl named Maddie Wallace, the former of whom played first base and the latter of whom said she would play anywhere in the infield or outfield.

“A girl?” one boy, an eighth-grader named Joey Ross, inquired. “Girls can’t play baseball!”
“Yeah they can,” Dax shot back. “My sister played baseball all the way through high school.”
“Yeah, but…”
“If you’ve got a problem with her playing, you might as well just go home,” one of the coaches said. Joey shut up after that, and with the focus back on baseball, practice got underway with a round of “in and out” fielding practice.

A, being the QB seems like the best choice for a pitcher

i don't know what you're talking about, sir

“I’ll play QB,” Anthony said. Zack Byrd, their other teammate, decided to be a running back. The game started, and Anthony’s pitching experience helped him drive the team down the field for several scores. On defense, the team wasn’t as strong, but Xander was a ballhawk at safety and came down with three or four interceptions to seal a 6-2 win.

(Anthony: CTRL +2, XP +2)

Eventually, one of the camp counselors came down to give them a formal welcome and introduction, as well as some details about that evening’s activities.

“Hey guys! My name’s Toby and I’m gonna be your cabin leader,” a red-headed kid said as he walked up to the ten boys. “We like to give you guys some privacy, so the cabin leaders like myself sleep in a separate cabin. Anyways, welcome to Camp Sherman! I went here for eight years when I was a kid, so feel free to ask me anything if you have questions.”

One of the boys did have a question. “Yes?” Toby asked the boy, a sixth-grader named Christopher Price.
“I heard there was stargazing… Will we get to see the moon?” Christopher asked innocently enough.
“I don’t-“ Toby began to reply, but was startled to see the boy pulling down his pants to “moon” him. “Um…”

Christopher pulled his pants back up and started picking his nose.

“Okay… Anyways, tonight’s activities will start at four o’clock. We’ll have an all-camp meeting to go over camp rules and stuff like that, then dinner at six followed by some camp games.”

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By the end of the first practice, the Oceanside Panthers were down to 35 players. Four had already quit, but not Joey, who was determined to show how much better boys were than girls. Unfortunately for him, Maddie was an exceptional athlete and had fielded every ball hit to her cleanly at a multitude of positions.

“Oh yeah? I bet I can play third base even better,” Joey said before fielding a ball and throwing way wide of first base.

Also still in the race for a spot on the Panthers’ final roster were Thurgood, Ug, Harold, and Matthew. The most impressive player thus far, though, had been the first baseman Dax, who was great at using his long arms and legs to stretch out for wild throws from the other infielders.

“Tomorrow we’ll work on hitting,” Coach Williamson told the players, “but get some rest tonight and come ready to play tomorrow.” They broke the huddle and the players scurried off in several directions — including one boy who sprinted straight north and only stopped running when he smacked into the outfield fence.

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The car ride back home from practice was a long one for Ug, who got out his first summer reading book, The Hunger Games, and read two chapters.

His classmates were progressing through the library reading challenge at different rates. Stanislaus had already finished the novel and moved on to the second of the twelve books on the list. Harold hadn’t yet picked up the book. Johnny had just started reading the book. Jimmy hadn’t gotten to it yet either as he was busy packing for his family’s vacation to Seoul, South Korea the next week. And Cody Tibbits hadn’t gotten a long enough break from his hockey obligations to read any of the book.

Cody had played for the same club since he was seven, and now that his brother Timmy had reached that age, he had joined his brother as a member of the Chargers’ mite team. Cody was now playing his second year of peewee hockey, and was the team’s top defenseman, playing alongside his friend Jackson Harris on the blue line.

That same Monday afternoon was taken up by a three-hour practice session at the Chargers’ new facilities in downtown San Diego. The facilities included enough rinks so that all seven age groups (mite, squirt, peewee, bantam, midget minor, midget major, and junior) could practice simultaneously, and thus Cody and Timmy were dropped off at the same door to the facility, where a cheerful coach let them in and directed them to the check-in and registration area.

With the boys having all arrived early, they still had a couple of hours to hang out and get to know each other a little better.

Of course there were Xander and Anthony — the former a baseball star and skateboarding fanatic who had never known his mother; the latter a decent ballplayer in his own right but also a bright kid who worked hard at everything he did—and had lived with his happily married parents for his entire life.

There were also Jackson Long and Zack Byrd, two of Xander’s friends from past camps as well as two of his skate buddies. Jackson was very outgoing and friendly, while Zack preferred to keep to himself and would defer to most of the other boys.

The only boy Xander didn’t already know was Danny Thornton, a sixth-grader who seemed like a good enough kid. When Xander learned that Danny was a shortstop like him, and that the two would be playing for the same team in the spring, the two instantly became friends and started talking baseball.

Xander did, however, know the other five boys in the cabin. He had been in a cabin with two of the boys, Matthew Young and Grayson Hall, the previous summer. Matthew was quite smart and had used his brains on multiple occasions to get the others out of trouble. Grayson, meanwhile, was a little weird, but seemed to have matured a bit.

The other three boys had also attended the camp in 2015, and Xander had befriended them through various camp activities and events. Christopher, who Xander had met on the first night during a game of horseshoes, had seemed a bit rowdy last year, and Xander observed that his immaturity could get them into trouble if they weren’t careful. Ollie Person was a pretty normal kid who really loved s’mores, as evidenced by his eating eleven in one night the previous year. And Tommy Quinn was also a pretty normal kid, and his experience dealing with his younger siblings could come in handy when dealing with younger kids (or Christopher), Xander noted.

With all of this in mind, Xander led the boys up to the main camp, where they mingled with the other kids who had arrived. All in all there were about a hundred kids at the camp already, somewhat evenly divided between the four grade levels that this particular camp allowed (5th through 8th grade; there were also separate camps for high-school and elementary-age students), and the ten boys spread out to introduce themselves at various tables.

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After driving home, Matthew decided to rest up for the next day, even though he probably wouldn’t have to hit. Gotta be ready in case they ask me to throw, he thought as he kicked off his shoes and climbed into his wood-framed bed.

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“How was practice, Timmy?” Cody asked his younger brother after the first three-hour session.
“It was awesome!” Timmy squealed with joy. “I love hockey!”

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Anthony looked around hoping to find somebody, anybody that he knew…

There! Over there! Is that…

The dark-haired boy walked over to a table of eighth-graders. One of the boys looked around, then locked eyes with Anthony.

“Anthony?” the boy asked.
“In the flesh.”

The two of them talked for quite some time, with the eighth-grade boy also introducing Anthony to a couple of his friends: a boy named Tyrone and a girl named Samantha. The four of them went over to the gaga-ball pit nearby and started playing a game, and before they knew it a huge game broke out, with about half the kids trying to squeeze themselves into the ring.

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“That’s awesome,” Cody said. Timmy smiled proudly, but something seemed off about the grin.

“Did you…lose a tooth?”
“Yeah,” Timmy sheepishly grinned again.

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Meanwhile, Thurgood had just arrived home with his parents, who sat him down at the dinner table to talk about their upcoming family vacation.

“Okay, so we’ve decided to go to Syria,” Mr. Stubbs said.
“Interesting choice,” Thurgood remarked.

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When four o’clock finally rolled around, the kids had exhausted themselves from gagaball and trudged over to the tables they had been sitting at previously. A handful of kids had shown up, and there were now about 150 campers in total waiting for their next instructions.

“Welcome to Camp Sherman!” a cheerful voice suddenly called out. “We’re so glad all of you could make it. Do we have any first-timers in the house?”

A couple dozen kids, including Anthony, raised their hands.

“Okay, how many of you have been to one camp or more?”

Everyone else raised their hands.

“Two?”

About half of those kids put their hands down.

“Three?”

This cut it down to about 30 kids.

“Four?”

Down to eight, including Xander.

“Five?”

Only two boys were left with their hands raised: Xander, of course, but also Jaxon Stills, who was indeed the eighth-grader who Anthony had been talking to before. They exchanged a knowing glance.

“Six?”

Both boys remained standing with their hands up.

“Seven?”

Xander shrugged and sat down. Jaxon did not.

“Wow. What’s your name, kid?”

“Jaxon Stills,” said the Mohawked middle infielder.

“Awesome! Well, here’s a bit of how things work around here…”

The gist was that they would have a balance of structured and unstructured time at the camp. Structured time included sleep, meals, and camp chores and games. Unstructured time meant that the kids would be given some options as to how they spent their time. They could roam around the high-ropes course, try their hand at archery or horseback riding, go swimming, run around in the fields, or just hang out. There would also be a handful of exclusive opportunities which included camping out, stargazing, fishing, and making s’mores by the campfire.

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“First time?” Cody asked. Timmy nodded. “How’d it happen?”

Timmy grinned proudly. “Got in a fight,” he said. “We had a scrimmage, and this kid Bryce kept stealing the puck from us, and one of my teammates named Nick hit him into the boards, and Bryce wanted to fight Nick, and I ran in to help Nick, and Bryce slugged me in the mouth.”

“Whoa,” Cody said. “This Bryce kid…”
“No, he’s cool,” Timmy reassured. “He just plays really hard.”
“Oh, okay,” Cody replied.

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“Better start packing,” Mrs. Stubbs said as she went to retrieve everyone’s suitcases.

Thurgood sighed.

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Jimmy James, meanwhile, was preparing to go to Seoul with his family. He had seven siblings, and all but his oldest brother Fred would be going on the trip — Fred had gotten a summer job and was too busy to take more than a day or two off.

Once Jimmy had packed all his clothes and toiletries, he found that he still had space for a couple of items.

What do you take with you on the trip? (Kungfupandacam)

A. Books for the reading challenge
B. Baseballs to practice with
C. A teddy bear for comfort
D. Nintendo 3DS to play games on
E. A water gun to spray at random people

I would actually be excited to go to Syria. But ok coach

B. Baseballs to practice with and to throw at random people.

Jimmy tossed a few baseballs into his suitcase, thinking that maybe he could get some practice in. Maybe there would be a wall somewhere he could throw at, or maybe he would try to peg unsuspecting strangers on the sidewalks.

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Thurgood’s sigh was not because he didn’t want to go to war-torn Syria. For some reason, the boy actually wanted to go there. His sigh was instead because he had gotten tickets to a Padres-Mets game (and Bartolo Colon was scheduled to start), but it was during the vacation, leading to his disappointment at not being able to go to the game. Nonetheless, he did grow excited as the realization that he was going to the vacation spot of his dreams overtook the fact that he was missing a ballgame.

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After the camp welcome and introductions to all the staff, dinner was served. Dinner that first night was meatloaf with mashed potatoes, green beans, and okra, although the kids did have other options, such as DIY PB&J sandwiches or dirt from the camp garden.

While Anthony went for the meatloaf, Xander opted for a sandwich, spreading crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jam over two slices of white bread and taking his finished product to a table, where he was quickly surrounded by a bevy of other kids.

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The next morning, all 35 remaining players reported to the Panthers’ practice field. They went through their usual stretching and throwing routine, led by Coach Williamson and his assistants, before being divided into three groups. The first group would take the field first; the second group would hit against the coaches’ BP; and the third group would go to the cages for instruction with the team’s hitting specialist, Coach Martinez, a former MLB infielder who was excellent at getting the best out of young players, especially at the plate.

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Another day meant another long hockey practice for the Tibbits brothers. This time it was Cody who got scraped up, as he came away with several bruises on his arms and legs from blocking shots, part of the peewee team’s intense defensive drills.

The mite team, however, did not take practices as seriously as the higher-level teams in the organization, and the coaches were content to let the youngsters work on their skating for the majority of the day, helping the boys stay balanced and improve their speed and agility on the ice.

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After everyone had finished eating, the counselors got up again and the first night of camp games got underway. Many of the kids groaned when they heard the first activity: a team-building exercise known as the “human knot”.

Even worse was the fact that once they had solved the human knot (and thus “untied” themselves), they had to sit down with a couple of the counselors and give an explanation of how they solved the problem.

However, once each group had finished this, they were allowed to get in line for that night’s special treat, root beer floats, and after a quick meeting to go over the schedules for that night and the following morning, the kids would be dismissed and could go down to the cabins, get ready for bed, hang out, or participate in one of two activities that would be going on in the vast fields around them — stargazing with a couple of the counselors, or a huge game of capture-the-flag. The swimming pool was also open, although it was getting a bit dark.

After the entirety of Cabin 18 had finished off their floats and had listened to the counselors’ instructions, Xander called them together for a quick meeting to ask what the other boys wanted to do, leaving it up to a vote.

“We can split up, or we can all go do something together,” Xander said.

By a vote of 6 to 4, the boys decided to stick together as a group.

The next vote was what to do with the nearly three hours of free time they now had until it was time for lights-out. Obviously getting ready for bed would take up some of that time, but that still left the boys with no less than two hours of time — not because it would take any of the boys an hour to get ready but because they would have to go back up to the main camp (where the camp’s only restrooms were located) and there were only four showers, three sinks, and six bathroom stalls in the boys’ bathroom.

That said, they did still have two hours to work with, and Xander went back over their options before letting the boys vote again.

What do you want to do with the free time? (PowerPro Jr)

A. Stargazing
B. Capture the flag
C. Hang out in the cabin
D. Swimming
E. Rap battle/cypher