This week I announce that I have started a personal business for the publishing and selling of my books; Can't Miss: The Kevin Pangos Story and the upcoming A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp. The publisher and I are in a work in progress for the cover but I am releasing the text of the back cover, that people will read before buying. The back cover of many books extol how great the book inside is, but I feel the people of Olympia Sports Camp, and their journeys, are what the book is about and I am proud to unveil the thoughts of four Olympians for this purpose. I feel these words are a priceless example of the impact of Olympia, and the subsequent impact of those who follow.  


 




Olympia is a People Who

 

 “The people at Olympia are some of the greatest and most inspiring people I have ever met. Every summer, I witness staff members and campers become a better version of themselves. Olympia facilitates their development into amazing leaders, teammates, and citizens of society by giving them the self-confidence and the right environment to step out of their comfort zone and grow. Getting to work and contribute to this team environment while forming special relationships and bonds has changed my life. It motivates me every day to be better and is why I keep coming back every summer.”

 Meredith Bawks, 2021 Head Athletic Therapist 

 

 

"In 2008 I walked into the coaches’ room at Olympia for the first time – and met my father!  The pictures on the wall of Norwegian airmen in winter training – that might have been him! It dawned on me that I was standing at the same place where my father had spent many leisure hours on leave from his posting at Little Norway. I have pictures of my dad at Vesle Skaugum.  

As I arrived at Olympia that day, I saw the familiar Norwegian crest and the quote in Norwegian on the fireplace.  I had jumped a generation back. I was reliving part of my father’s youth. 

Olympia has a special place in my life independent of the story of my father, but for me it can never be “just another basketball camp”.  It is the place where I met my father – 15 years before I was born."

Per Toien- Olympia coach- son of WW ll Royal Norwegian Air Force veteran

 

“Olympia is so much more than a place of success. Dave wants everyone to connect and have fun. He wants us to be able to explore ourselves. When I was a counsellor here, the message was ‘take the bat off the shoulder’ and to get out of your comfort zone in a one-hour session. Now it’s like he himself is at another level and he’s taking us all with him. Olympia is a place where you are connecting with people. The conversations around camp may be sport-specific or they may be idle chatter but they're not unlike the conversations you have about values in your family. This place defined me as a young child, then as a teenager, and now as a teacher, wife, and mother. “

 

Ainslie Thomson, Coach’s kid, Counsellor, Coach

 

 

"My Olympia experience led me to play at York University and Maccabi Canada and gave me opportunities I would never have had elsewhere, laying the foundation for my life in basketball, including professional experience in Europe as both a player and coach, and ultimately my founding of Albany Avenue Basketball. Olympia is a unique community of inclusiveness, and encouragement, a place where Dave Grace brings out the absolute best in everyone. Indeed, I owe Dave Grace and Olympia for not only opening doors for me, but for changing the course of my life."

 

 Sean Loucks- Olympia coach-  Albany avenue Basketball Association, albanyavenuebasketball.com

 


NOTE:


As June begets July the end of the school year means the beginning of the summer at Olympia Sports Camp. Here's hoping that the efforts of Dave, Greg, and the amazing staff brings a life changing experience to hundreds of campers. The two year hiatus is felt for sure but the end result is the same. Some young person will have their path in life defined this summer, and there is nothing more valuable than that.... The website is olympiasportscamp.com. Let's share this to everyone we can and make the summer of 2022 another example of the resiliency and the legacy of the best sports camp around...



 

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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