Tuesday's With Dave

This blog entry is a reprint from one written on Dec 12, 2022. The reason for the reprint is that the annual tournament is coming up this weekend. Doug and Sandra Ranton have done a lot for the WRSPC over the ten years since their son's death. They have decided, with heavy hearts, that, although the tournament will continue in Jacob's name, this will be their last fund raiser. They want the 10th  to be the best ever, and I hope this blog helps. Please like and share to help spread the word.  You Are Never Alone on your Journey ( written Dec 12 2022) This Friday we will be at the Jacob Ranton Memorial Basketball Tournament at Waterloo Collegiate. The tournament features 16 teams from around the area but a more important aspect is that the tournament raises money for the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council.  The title of this blog: "You Are Never Alone"s serves two purposes: One is that there is always someone with whom we can share our vulnerability in times wh...

World Class Athlete, World Class coach What is the signature part of Olympia Sports Camp? Is it the Norwegian-inspired main dining hall? Is it the Zip Line or the Big Tower? Is it the 5 basketball courts laid out with OxBow Lake as a backdrop? For many, including Stand Up Paddling ( SUP) coach Ariel Amaral, it is the 1,500 feet of shoreline  that captures the true beauty of life at Interlaken. The A Frame docking system that is the centre point of activity throughout the day and the many paddle boards, canoes, kayaks and sailboats make it an aspect of Olympia Sports camp that is the envy of most camps in Canada. And It's where Ariel shines. It was the waterfront that attracted Ariel Amaral to Olympia in the first place. Never having come to Olympia as a camper, Ariel visited a friend who was a counsellor at the time, went for a quick swim, and that's all it took. Ariel has been coaching at Olympia coming up to ten years in the summer of 2025. She has never missed a year; not wh...

The twists and turns a journey can take.  I had the good fortune of meeting Brendan Morris, forever  known as Brendo, many years ago as a counsellor  at Olympia. When I was writing  my book, and realizing the impact of staffing from around  the world, I knew I wanted to interview Brendo and Martin Paul .  Chapter Six  of A Hero's Journey : Beyond Little  Norway and Olympia Sports Camp . is entitled   Allies and Ogres. Brendo has been an ally for hundreds. Did Brendo find Olympia, or did Olympia find Brendo? Either way, the camp is a better place because  of him. Here is an excerpt from that interview from 2019: Originally from Sydney, Australia, Brendo had just finished his undergraduate degree and was looking for what most international applicants are looking for: a combination of a life experience in a different culture and working in sports, something Brendo had done his whole life. He thought he would be heading to the U.S. but he f...

 Happy 30th Birthday Double D There is a story written in Chapter 1 of A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp under the subtitl e "When I left the ordinary world and Found The People Who" which describes the day at Olympia on Aug 30 1994 that I was told by a counsellor to call my brother John in Waterloo. John told me that our mom had died that morning. The people of Olympia saved me that day. For that I will be forever grateful. I also thank God that I had Joy and Nicole there with me. They saved me too. Looking back, that day started with such great excitement. It was our 14th wedding anniversary and we were heading into town for an anniversary lunch, and our 4 year old daughter Nicole was having a blast at a place that she considered home, with fellow coaches who were like family, watching over her. . Joy was also six months pregnant with our second child. Life was  good.  That second child?  That child who was at Olympia before he was at O...

Lest We Forget  Remembrance Day gives us pause to think about those who came before us and those who fought and died so that we could enjoy the freedoms that we do.  Truth be told that most of our thoughts go to Canadians whose sacrifice in world wars and peacekeeping forces around the world keep us safe, maybe a grandparent or a relative. Maybe someone involved in the many skirmishes taking place now. We honour their memory for our own sake. As an Olympian who has walked the grounds of Interlaken, though, one tends to think about the brave men and women who trained at Little Norway. It started at the Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto before relocating to the Gravenhurst Airport and to the land that they called "Vesle Skaugum." The land that we now call Olympia Sports Camp was used for rehab and training purposes. When you go upstairs in the main dining hall and see the grainy pictures you get a sense of the use of the property by the Royal Norwegian Air Force as they trained a...

 Some sports fans may have seen the commercial that involves several  young NHL players making comment on a characteristic of  Gen Z.  Such as "They don't work hard" and then a clip of Connor Bedard showing how insanely hard they work out, or " they feel  entitled" and then Connor McDavid shows the intensity with which he plays the game and how he earns everything he has accomplished. Then 'old man' Sidney Crosby ends the ad by saying " Kids these days" So well done. Sid should meet Sofia Nguyen  For generations, Olympia Sports Camp has run a three-week leadership camp that has often been called ' a three week interview' as the Hero's Journey plays itself out over those three weeks.  The leader finds out real quick if this leadership stuff is for them, and they learn a lot about themselves. In my time with Olympia I have seen what that three week course is like. My daughter Nicole did it and that eventually led her to want to travel...