A Generational Experience


Olympia Sports Camp, family, teaching, and basketball have all been a part of the journey of Kelsie James (nee McEwan) since birth. Born in the basketball hotbed of Sarnia, Ontario, Kelsie attended St Christopher’s high school before attending Wilfrid Laurier University for her undergrad and the University of Windsor for teacher’s college. She also coached at Lambton College and now teaches grade 5 in Sarnia.


An Olympian at a very early age, Kelsie came to camp because of her grandfather, Barry Howson, who was a member of the 1964 Canadian Olympic basketball team and is a member of the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame. She loved being at Olympia with her family, but she also loved the opportunity to play against boys.

 

“I was a coach’s kid with my grandpa week 2, and I started in session when I was 8 years old. There was only boys’ basketball that week, so I played with the boys, and I think that made me a better, more aggressive player. “


There’s the rub on basketball. The family spoken of? The Howson family at one point had 30 people up for week 2, from grandpa and grandma to sons and daughters, aunts, and uncles, and then grandchildren. With further generations to follow.


 With Olympia also in the blood, Kelsie worked for three summers as a counsellor. Her third summer was bitter, yet her sweetest Olympia moment came from it.

 

“My mother passed away in November of 2009 and the following summer I was torn as I wanted to be at camp, but I wanted to be with my younger brother and sister. When my mom died, I was 19, my sister Chrissy was 17, and my brother Trevor was only 13. I felt I couldn’t go for the whole summer.”

 

Kelsie wanted to go for three weeks at the end of the summer, but Greg Rogers had other ideas.

 

“I went for pre-camp and was selected to do the 3-week leadership camp, which was right at the start of the summer,” Kelsie says,” It was the first time that anyone had seen me as a leader. I had been captain of teams before, but I always thought that was because I was a good player. Greg Rogers picking me for that camp was my biggest Olympia moment. I decided that my mom would have wanted me to do it, my dad supported my decision, and maybe Greg felt I needed it, so I did the three weeks of leadership. Those three weeks changed my life.”

 

Next for Kelsie was two years as a unit leader. After that she thought she had done all she could do at Olympia, and it was time to move on. That summer the unit staff proposed to Dave and Greg the need for a camp coordinator position to act as a liaison between levels of the staff. Little did Kelsie ever think that she would be the person they would hire. Here’s this growing leader being told again she was good. She did the job for the next five years. 

 

Her fiancée now husband Andre James joined the Olympia family, becoming the camp driver for four years. At the same time Kelsie was going through a process in the teaching profession, from the uncertainty of supply teaching, to doing a few LTO’s (long term occasional) to finally getting her own classroom. Once she had a contract it made it harder to come for the whole summer, so she would do the three-week leadership camp and coach basketball week 7. 

 

In her time as a camp staff Kelsie felt she impacted the senior staff a lot and felt like an ally to counsellors who may be struggling with their cabin. She also makes it known that where she is now is because of, yes, the lineage of basketball and teaching in her family, but also is in large part because of the people of Olympia. She always loved being close to home and her close-knit family, but Olympia became a new home for two months every summer.

 

“It’s great taking what we have learned here back home. Like the hero’s return,” Kelsie says,” I use Olympism all the time. The leader I am, the coach I am, the teacher I am, are all because of Olympia. I even use icebreaker games I learned here. The techniques I learned allow me to make a deeper connection with my students, and that's better for their learning. I know who I am because of Olympia and feel accomplished and confident because of the leadership challenges imposed on me at camp.”

 

When Kelsie first dealt with Dave Grace, she found him to be scary and now he is one of her greatest mentors.

 

“Dave has a vision, and he embodies it. I could never repay him for everything he has done for the future vision of my life. All my best friends are from camp and it’s another reason to keep coming.  Losing my mom at 19 was tough and the people and the place of Olympia picked up the growth and carried me. It made me a better person and I found my true self.”

 

“Our family has roots at Olympia, for sure, with my grandpa being one of the early coaches, but it’s much more than that. The people I met through Olympia have become a new family. We will always have the lessons and memories of Olympia. I loved the growth that I went through, but now I love seeing others catch the vibe of Dave’s dream. The ability to give back to someone who has given so much to me is the right thing to do and I hope we keep coming up for years, with yet another generation of the family on Oxbow."


That multi-generational Howson family Kelsie is a part of? Kelsie and Andre now have son Ashton, obviously a future Olympian. He comes from good stock.


Kelsie James is a leader that Olympia can be proud of, and a daughter a mom can be proud of.

 


 

Pay It Forward.  2022 will be a great year as the camp will return and flourish, but we need to be allies. Now is the time to get the word out to our circle of influence The camp website is  www.olympiasportscamp.com Check out the website. Do it for the kid whose life will be changed because they got to go to Olympia Sports Camp in the summer of 2022. Help spread the vibe that after two years the best sports camp in Canada ( with the four reasons we hear at every opening) will be back and be better than ever.  

 

 

 

The link to the blog is TuesdayswithDave.blogspot.com

This blog is about the journey of the writing of the book A Hero's Journey: From Little Norway to Olympia Sports Camp. The blog will contain excerpts from the book and my personal thoughts on what the place and the people that make up Olympia's journey is all about. The title comes from the great book Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom. The blog's title is recognizing Dave Grace as Camp Director, but all content is my own.

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