Tuesday's With Dave

 The people we get to meet on our journey. Jackie Zicaro is one of  the 12 coaches whose journey is outlined in Chapter 4, Meet The Mentors, in A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp . Her content looks at the arrival of allies and ogres in our journey. Jackie is surrounded by allies because that is what  she is to so many. Jackie's ( nee Shaw) Olympia journey began as a babysitter for Gary Southworth. She went as a camper for three years before being hired as a counsellor when she was in grade 11. She worked at camp for four years, years that made her who she is today in many ways.  As with many long-time Olympia people, Jackie's connections at Olympia led her to so much in her life. She was recruited to Lakehead University by Olympia coach Stu Julius. She had Patty Pangos as a coach at Olympia when she was in grade 8. When she graduated teacher's college Patty helped her get a position  at Dr Denison in Newmarket. She got the job withou...

In writing A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp the chapters that dealt with Olympia looked at every segment of camp life and its impact on intense fun throughout the week. Coaches, campers, counsellors, full time staff, told me stories of their Olympia, and all added to the fabric of the book. But in my 30+ year career of coaching I think a key cog to the whole operation is the senior staff. The senior staff I have been fortunate to get to work with and then get to know through my writing includes some of the most amazing leaders on the planet. Jodie Collins, Danny Connelly, Denise ( Chub) Evans, Kyle Rysdale, and Kelly Dunham are a few names that come to mind. The great thing about Olympia is the list could include the names of a litany of senior staff over the 50-year history of camp. The summer of 2024 sees another group of leaders whose role is not just to make this summer the best, but also to continue the legacy of so many that came before them. Th...

The World Class Leaders of Olympia Last week I was on a zoom call with Olympia Associate director Greg Rogers and this summer's Unit Leaders and was so enamoured  with the quality of leader that I decided to use the next couple of blogs to give a shout out to these amazing young people and their sense of duty and adventure. The meeting was about the new Olympia App but I couldn't get by the introductions. In listening to these leaders explain where they are and what they are up to made me admire them but also admire the whole hiring process as these young people will continue to inspire others throughout the summer. The people we get to meet on our journey... I'm on this zoom call from my home office in Burlington Ontario. These young leaders are on the call, some are up at camp, and several of them are at locales all over the world. One is in Australia, one is in Austria, and our featured leader for this blog is in Prague. In A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and ...

The Relentless Pursuit of Better Huntsville has the reputation of being one of those beautiful  Muskoka towns that is bustling in the summer with tourists from all over looking for the beauty of the Canadian Shield and the tranquility of lake / cottage life. Most may not know that Huntsville is also home to a world-class Sport Performance Lab that in the last few years has become yet another reason to take a look at sending your son/ daughter/ athlete to Olympia Sports Camp. The best part of The Sport Lab in downtown Huntsville may be its very-Olympia- fitting motto: "The Relentless Pursuit of Better." Dr. Lowell Greib, seen cheering for one of his athletes, is an avid ultra-distance athlete and naturopathic doctor who opened his clinic in his hometown of Huntsville in 2011. The goal was to help Muskoka's athletes and active community with high-quality sports therapy. Through decades of professional experience Dr. Greib and his technicians have used a unique approach to g...

 May 24th honours Queen Victoria. Some call it the unofficial beginning of summer. Some call it May 2-4. But for a lot of people in the Olympia alumni family and beyond May 24 will be  day of reflection and remembrance. That is the day, in different years, that Olympia lost two of its most dynamic and positive personalities who influenced many; John Petrushchak and Kelly Dunham. To honour these legends I provide an excerpt of each from A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp . Hundreds of people have walked the grounds of Olympia over its 50-year span and these two were among the best. Coach P passed away on May 24, 2022, just a few days shy of his 83rd birthday. Kelly passed away on May 24, 2020 after a brief illness at the age of 51. That their journeys impacted hundreds is an understatement. John had a great career ar George Harvey and Runnymede CI and is one of Ontario's winningest basketball coaches. The players who model their lives after their men...

 An Olympian makes the Olympics! Congrats go out to Olympia Sports Camp week 9 coach's kid Julie Brousseau on the astonishing accomplishment of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics!! Julie will be in Paris this summer and will compete in the 200m freestyle relay.  This achievement for the now-18 year old from Ottawa is something that her father Paul and mother Lisanne, and her sisters Abby and Merielle should be very proud. And every Olympia Sports Camp family member will join the Brousseau Bandwagon and will be cheering her on this July. Its very cool that someone we met so long ago is now about to compete on the world's largest stage. The blog entry below, which is a reprised edition of one written on Dec 11, 2023, captures the continual growth of the challenges this young athlete has taken on. Will there be a gold medal around her neck? That's the next stage of her journey, yet to be determined. HERE WE GOOOO!! Here's the blog entry that has aged well... One theme throug...

 An Olympia Moment in Time. According to Philosopher Joseph Campbell, the hero must go through challenges and slay dragons on their journey, but the result is that they become the person they were meant to become. In the journey of writing A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little and Olympia Sports Camp I was lucky to meet some amazing people with amazing stories that the book is full of. The following is an excerpt from the book. It can be found on page 252 and its written by Kris Potter. I'm paraphrasing for length. The content of this passage has echoes in the journey of Olympia coach's kid Kalia Potter. My Olympia Story began when I was 16 years old and I had been hired to work at the tuck and pro shop. To say that I was a model employee that summer would be a significant stretch, as I was homesick and didn't want to be there. I was insecure, didn't know anyone, and didn't want to look foolish doing things like all those dances! I was being forced to step out of my ...