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JDS Camp defeats the scorching sun!



 

JDS Camp team shot

The JDS camp for 2012 began in  bright sunshine and continued for the whole 4 days.  Once the parents departed it was straight into the first training session of the camp.  This sorted out the athletes who had obviously done some exercise over the Christmas break to those who hadn’t.  The first night then consisted of bowling and laser tag before supper and bed.

Day 2 we were up and going with bags packed and on our way to Collingwood track for the hardest training day of them all.  Athletes participated in 3 various training groups with javelin proving to be the most popular, when athletes could select an event for the last activity – 45 athletes turned up.... That afternoon saw all athletes participate in a fitness and circuit training, which most athletes seemed to enjoy.  With the heat of the day continuing into the night, the visit to MSAC was enjoyed by all, including the camp leaders who all ventured into the pool, with Michelle and Andrea enjoying the water slide as well.

Day 3 we were back on the track at the uni followed by afternoon activities consisting of Resistance Training, Dodge ball, Core Strength and Pool Training.  Additional free time was made available on this day for the athletes to prepare for the disco and sing star night.  With some of the athletes selecting to dress up, we saw the following emerge – Michael Jackson, The Cross Dressers, LMFAO, Taylor Swift just to name a few.  Sing Star kicked off the night with the Purple Group taking the honours in the singing.  The Nutbush then arrived with all partaking in this famous dance routine..... With the heat in the room (from dancing and the outside temperature, we saw the night conclude about 30 minutes earlier than planned, with most of the athletes enjoying the chance to get out in the fresh air and the opportunity to get to bed in preparation for the last day – COMPETITION DAY.

Day 4 had finally arrived, with everyone venturing over to the track for the Teams Competition.  Pink group looked grand with their pink zinc faces and everyone was eager to participate.  The individual events went first, followed by the Teams Relay with all 89 athletes taking to the track at once over 800m.  Lime group were victorious in this race, which eventually gave them sufficient points to win the overall competition for the day.  It was then back to our rooms to pack up (which took some longer than others...) before athletes had the closing speech delivered by Shane and then departed with their parents for some well deserved sleep.

When writing this report, I’m sure some of the athletes would still be asleep.

Click on the Camera Image below to view some photographs from Camp, more photo's will be available shortly.

Camera Image

 Please find below an athletes perspective of Camp

On Sunday the 15th of January we all arrived at Ormond Collage, ready for another year, or first year for many of JDS camp! Some arrived later than others as four athletes, including me, had been competing all weekend at the AV Country Championships in Bendigo.

As we arrived we were sorted into our team colours which were Yellow (the best), Red, Green, Lime, Royal blue, Sky Blue, Purple, and last but not least, Pink. Team Leaders and Captains were allocated and we all introduced ourselves to our teams which would be like our families for the next few days. After we had gone through all the rules, been given our rooms, and eaten lunch we all changed into our training gear and headed down to the Melbourne Uni track for our first of many training sessions! After we had gone through 2 rotations of our chosen events, we headed back up to the college and out of the heat to shower and head down to dinner! After dinner we all piled on buses and headed out to a fun night for everyone at bowling and laser tag.

On the second day we were woken up nice and early by our team leaders and headed down to Picken Lawns for a morning stretch before breakfast. After breakfast we then prepared for training and hopped back on the buses and headed to Collingwood Athletics Track. After our 3 rotations we all enjoyed a BBQ lunch and then a motivating talk from elite athletes Brooke Stratton and Damien Birkinhead. That afternoon we went back out to Picken Lawns and completed a fitness circuit for our second training session of the day. That night after dinner we all (including the coaches) enjoyed a well earned rest and swim at MSAC to finish off the day.

Tuesday started off in much the same way as the day before. After our morning training session at the Melbourne uni track, we had a big lunch back at Ormond Collage and went back down to the track for our afternoon training session of resistance, pool training, core strength and dodge ball, which was a lot of fun! Our sing star disco night kicked off after dinner, it was a great night even if it was a little hot! Everyone was very impressed by the athletes that had dressed up, including Katy Perry clones and LMFAO, and the cross dressers which has seemed to become a tradition over the years I have been at JDS camp. The dancing was also very impressive, especially by Anna, who wowed everyone on the dance floor with her back flips before she landed on the table with the projector on it, but everything was ok and it turned out to be a good laugh for everyone! As we went through the night we realised, yet again, that our real talent belongs on the Athletics track and not in front of a microphone, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway and the singstar competition was won by the purple team, much to Jo’s delight! But nobody else minded them having the glory as the real competition was the next day, on the track! We all went to bed willingly after a long night of dancing and got in a good sleep, so that we were ready for the last day of camp!

Everyone woke up the next morning excited and ready to head back to the track for the team competition! As usual, all the leaders were getting very competitive and Andrew got a little bit excited, and the whole pink team were running around with bright pink zinc on their faces. And the team competition began! The events consisted of a walk, 800m, Long Jump, Shot put, High Jump and the 100m sprint; it was then finished off with the team relay of 800m, with every athlete involved! Following the competition we all headed back up to our rooms for the last time and came back down to the lawns, all packed up and ready to head home!

All the parents then arrived and we went through the competition results, with the Lime team coming out on top. We then sadly said goodbye to everyone, and went home without any disappointment! It was very sad for me as I have been attending JDS since Under 12, and I have grown up and changed so much through the years of this camp, and have loved it every single year and always gained so much out of it. Through involvement in JDS and the camp I have improved so much with help from different coaches, been motivated to continue with athletics and be the best I can be. I have made lifelong friends, which for me, being a country athlete has been really special. I have really enjoyed coming to the JDS days and training with all different athletes from different places, but all with similar interests and goals. I definitely recommend this camp to all athletes in future years!

PS. I would like to say a big thankyou to all the coaches, and everyone involved in making JDS  function. I really appreciate everything you do for the squad and making it what it is!  I am going to miss it so much!

Michaela Duncan - Shepparton Little Athlete