By Sports Israel, Bus 12
At URJ 6 Points Sports Academy, they teach the importance of 6 core values: Teamwork, Growth, Leadership, Sportsmanship, Pride and Intention. We asked our participants and staff on Sports Israel to talk about how they incorporated these values they learned at camp into their Israel trip.
Teamwork
When we play sports and we play together as a team, rather than ball hogging and so on we show teamwork. We believe in the capabilities of our friends and teammates rather than just ourselves. For example, when we played wheelchair basketball, we had to work as a whole unit and each and every person had a part; it was not just one person or two people doing all the work. Because wheelchair basketball was a new sport for all of us, it was a great way to foster teamwork because we knew that no one was more proficient at it than anyone else. -Ryan Penn
Growth
As the trip has progressed, we have become more mature in some ways. We are more open minded to new experiences, new foods, new successes, and even new failures. Some of the new foods we have tried include, shwarma, falafel, bamba, and more beesley flavors than you can imagine (try the onion flavor it’s the best). We also went out of our comfort zones; we slept in Bedouin tents, scuba dived, and repelled down a cave (just to name a few). We have all definitely grown from this trip. -Adam Weiss
Leadership
It’s important to be a leader on this trip because you need to be mentally strong in order to be far from home. You also need to be organized because we are constantly moving from kibbutz to hotel to place to place and losing your last pair of socks is not an option. Being a leader also means being having a positive outlook on the activities that we do everyday because one persons mood can really affect the group’s dynamics for the day. -Eli Koundinov
Sportsmanship
On this trip, sportsmanship really played a role in respecting one another. We respected one another’s bravery and fear. Israel was different than camp because in camp we cheer on teammates who play the same sports as us, but in Israel we cheer on teammates who come from a variety of sports backgrounds, and the sport activities we do aren’t always your typical sport activities. For example, when two of our group members did not want to go repelling because they were scared, we all cheered them on. When only one of them ended up repelling down the cave, we cheered them on for their bravery and still supported the other group member in his fear. Another example is from when we played soccer and even though we were split among different teams, we always cheered when another group member kicked from the penalty line in a drill that we ran. -Yarah, Amit and Mimi
Pride
Seeing the Western Wall (Kotel) helped develop our pride in being Jewish. We felt the connection to our homeland and are proud that many have sacrificed everything they had in order for us to visit our holy land. We are proud to be Jewish and we are proud to be Jews in Israel. -Max Clark
Intention
From the first moment the teens landed in Israel, they were guided with intention until the end. For athletes who have learned at camp how important intention is in finding a balance between their lives and the thing that they love, sports, it was vital that each part of their journey toward loving Israel through a sports lens was also set with intentions. From finding meaning in each of their activities to bringing their camp culture to Israel through wristbands to the intention behind every run, jump, laugh, challenge and moment of awe throughout Israel, the teens’ experience was heightened because of the intention that they, their staff, and their community embraced every day. – Erica Barish
