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2008 UPA Grant Project

Camp Spirit of the Game™

By: Andrew Norman and Sam Bellin
UPA Grant Award: $1500
Site: http://campsog.com/default.aspx

Project Summary
Camp Spirit of the Game™ is a Pittsburgh-based initiative bringing the game and ethics of Ultimate to children ages 8-13.  The idea is to make the enjoyment of Ultimate the centerpiece of a camp experience devoted to systematically teaching sportsmanship and conflict resolution skills.  We plan to employ a unique set of "Spirit Drills" designed to teach the fundamentals of respectful engagement, dispute management, and self-control.  Camp Spirit enrolled 18 children its first year, the campers were wildly enthusiastic, and parents loved the concept.  We'd like to expand the program to at least 50 campers in year two, and make Camp Spirit an enterprise that can both sustain itself and grow.

Youth Ultimate is on the rise, but many young people don't encounter organized Ultimate until they reach high school.  This is unfortunate, for younger children, aged 8-13 are fully capable of playing, enjoying, and learning from this wonderful game.  Camp Spirit of the Game™ will help the sport grow by affording young people a chance to learn and play organized Ultimate.  By raising awareness of Ultimate's capacity to promote moral development, Camp Spirit will be planting seeds that will help ensure the long-term growth of the sport.  

Camp Spirit will utilize Ultimate's unique emphasis on self-refereeing to teach and model the broader concept of conflict resolution.  The camp daily schedule will include direct teaching of conflict resolution skills through role-playing and discussion.  Campers will apply these skills in the natural setting of sports competition, and think about what it would be like to apply them in other walks of life. 

For example, campers will be asked to role-play disputed foul calls, and play-act bad ways of working them out.  We'll discuss what happened in groups, posing questions designed to spark reflection: What did the disputants do wrong?  What was the effect of player X's yelling at player Y?  What could they have done better?  Foul-and-contest scenarios will be reprised with the actors furnishing a better example of conflict resolution, and the group will discuss the result.  Which way of dealing with the disagreement worked better?  Why?  How do you feel about person X's way of dealing with the situation?  Did it make you want to be his friend?  With activities like this, we intend to provide powerful lessons in moral development.

We also foresee the campers engaging in structured "Spirit Drills."  For example, campers will take turns cutting for a lead pass while a counselor/"defender" gently jostles for position, sometimes making contact with the camper's arm.  The camper must then decide whether to call the foul.  Did the defender bump me?  Did contact happen before or after I touched the disc?  Did it make the difference between my catching and not catching it?  Players' calls will be discussed by the group: What did you think of that foul call?  Was it a fair one?  Through such drills, kids will learn how their decisions affect the way others view them.  They'll also learn about integrity and impartiality.

We are well-positioned to provide such training.  Andy Norman has extensive training in alternative dispute resolution, and has worked as a volunteer community mediator and arbitrator.  He has taught courses on the history and theory of non-violence, continues to teach ethics, and works to revitalize the deliberative processes that underlie healthy democracies.  Over 20 years of youth sports coaching has made Sam Bellin an expert in identifying and using "teachable moments" to impart critical life lessons.  He has inspired hundreds of young people to strive for athletic and moral excellence.