ME3 Sports CAmp (WEstern Branch)
ME3 sports camp (part of the Tidewater SB2W circuit) is a transformative camp experience for ages 5-13 to introduce kids to a variety of sports, develop their skills, and teach them to honor God and one another in the way they compete in sports and all of life. Activities include football, basketball, soccer, hockey, ultimate Frisbee, kickball, wrestling, tumbling, crafts, trampoline, and more! Check out the details below for ME3 2024 and pre-register a camper with the embedded google form. Keep scrolling past the form to see pictures from our local partner camps, more of the camp story, and frequently asked questions. For other camp dates and locations or high school or college students interested in being counselors, check out the SB2W Tidewater Circuit page (teen volunteer application is also at the button above)
ME3 Western branch 2024
Ages: 5-13, rising grades K-8th
Dates: July 22-26
Times: 9 AM to 4 PM
(Half Camp 9 AM to 12 PM available for ages 5-7)
Cost: $150/child ($75 for half camp), scholarships available
Place: Facilities of Central Baptist Church, 1200 Hodges Ferry Rd, Portsmouth, VA 23701
Ready to register? Use the form below (choose ME3 Western Branch as the location)
More questions? Scroll down below for more!
THE POINT
Competition brings out the worst in many of us, kids and adults alike. We can quickly become self-centered, angry, and unreasonable. Many of us may have been told or have told our kids or others to "just be a little less competitive." But competitiveness is woven into the fabric of our very nature. What if there was a better way? What if our competitiveness was re-directed to honor God in all of our efforts and to care more about others than ourselves? ME3 uses sports to train kids at how to win and lose, succeed and fail, in a way that honors God and respects others, following the motto: "God first, others second, I'm third."
THE STORY
ME3 is based on the Summer's Best Two Weeks (SB2W) camp program that began in 1966. That camp still operates primarily as a resident camp in Western PA, serving over 3,000 campers every summer. But it has also spawned a number of day camps operated by individual churches in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
In 2018 and 2019, Crosswater partnered with Resurrection Community Church in Virginia Beach (then known as the Princess Anne Mission) to run ME3 as a half-day sports camp. In 2021, Grace Presbyterian Chesapeake joined in the fun. In 2022, Resurrection launched a Kingdom Expansion project that led to 5 locations that summer and 9 locations for 2023 and 2024. Coordinated by Resurrection Community (which handles registration and payments), all the churches work together, sharing counselors and resources to offer the camp at various locations throughout the summer. To see other times and locations, visit the SB2W Tidewater Circuit Page
THE ACTIVITIES
ME3 features a wide variety of sports, including football, basketball, soccer, hockey, ultimate Frisbee, kickball, wrestling, tumbling, crafts, and trampoline. Each day, campers will learn the basics and develop skills in some of these sports, have an interactive Bible lesson on some aspect of Christian competition, and compete as a team in one of the sports. Campers are assigned to squads divided by age and gender to learn their sports and develop their skills, and they are assigned to one of two teams, Romans (red) and Galatians (blue) for team competition. These team assignments are made for life in all ME3 or SB2W camps and all family members are assigned to the same team so that campers develop a strong sense of team loyalty and identity while learning to respect and honor their opponents.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you don’t see your question and answer here, just contact us and ask!
WHAT IS THE POINT OF CAMP?
The camp motto is I’m Third (God First, Others Second, I’m Third, hence the name ME3) and counselors and staff strive to embody this motto and communicate it to campers through their words and actions. The primary activity at camp is sports. We seek to introduce campers to a wide variety of sports, develop basic skills, and then push them to achieve levels of accomplishment in each sport. Through these sports, and through daily small group Bible study, we also teach lessons from the Bible about competition: how to win and lose, succeed and fail in a way that is honoring to God and respecting of others.
WHAT ARE THE HOURS OF CAMP?
Junior Camp (ages 5-7, rising K-2nd) and Day Camp (ages 8-13, rising 3rd-8th) run each day from 9 AM to 4 PM. Please plan to drop off between 8:45 and 9:00, so that we can start the day right at 9:00. There is also a Half Camp option for ages 5-7 that runs from 9 AM to Noon and still includes all the core Junior Camp activities, just in a shorter timeframe.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DAY CAMP AND JUNIOR CAMP?
While Day Camp and Junior Camp follow the same principles and include many of the same activities, the program details are slightly different.
Junior Camp is focused on a basic introduction to the various sports, activities, and Bible lessons with an emphasis on fun, exploration, and relationship-building.
Day Camp maintains the emphasis on fun, exploration, and relationship-building, but adds in the challenge of specific skill development goals in each activity and the aspect of intense and Godly team competition.
Generally, younger campers (ages 5-7) should participate in Junior Camp and older campers (ages 8-13) should participate in Day Camp. However, since each child is different, there is some flexibility around the boundaries. On the registration form, you can select which camp you are registering for, but please feel free to contact us if you want to discuss the specific needs of your child and which program will be best.
In addition, younger campers can register for Half Camp. Half Camp and Junior Camp are the same in the morning, but then those in Half Camp goes home at noon, while full-day junior camp remains for the afternoon with more activities, but at a slower pace and with some built-in rest time.
While there are half and full-day options for younger campers, there is not really any half-day option for older campers. Campers who are a "youngish 8" can participate in Half Ccamp if they would like, but the Day Camp program does not work well with leaving at noon and would leave most campers feeling frustrated and disappointed. If you have a specific circumstance with an older child who would do better with a half day, please contact us to talk about what would be best.
HOW MUCH DOES CAMP COST?
Full tuition for Day Camp is $150. Full tuition for half-day Junior Camp is $75 and full-day Junior Camp is $150. A deposit of $50/family (counts toward your total tuition) reserves your spot, with the balance due by June 1st. Scholarships are available for those with financial need, so please don't let money be a burden that keeps you from camp! Contact us if you need a scholarship. If you would like to contribute to the scholarship fund to help more families participate in camp, you can overpay your tuition invoice and the extra payment will be received as a designated tax-deductible contribution to Resurrection Community Church. The $50 deposit is refundable until May 1st and any other tuition payments are refundable if camper registration is withdrawn before June 1st. After June 1st, tuition will only be refunded if the spot can be filled with another camper.
WHERE DOES CAMP TAKE PLACE?
Camp takes place at the facilities of Central Baptist Church, 1200 Hodges Ferry Rd, Portsmouth, VA 23701. Each day is scheduled with a mix of indoor and outdoor activities to make sure campers get plenty of outside time, but also have breaks inside with air conditioning.
WHO ARE THE COUNSELORS?
The counselors are college and high school students selected for their Christian faith, love for kids, responsibility, and maturity. Some of these counselors are members of Crosswater Presbyterian or other local churches, while others come to the Virginia Beach/Chesapeake to invest a significant part of their summer in leading these camps at multiple area churches.
WHAT DOES THE CAMP DAY LOOK LIKE?
Each day is a highly structured mix of team competition and individual skill development in a variety of sports and activities, including football, basketball, soccer, hockey, ultimate Frisbee, kickball, wrestling, tumbling, and trampoline. Each day also includes lunch (brought from home) and a Bible lesson focused on some aspect of what it means to live and compete in a way that honors God.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SQUADS AND TEAMS?
The camp is fundamentally organized by "squads". These squads are made up of 5-10 campers of the same age and gender (Junior Camp squads may be mixed boys/girls) with their own counselors for the whole of the camp. The squad moves together through each day's schedule of activities, Bible, lunch, etc.
In addition to their squad, each camper is assigned to a "team", either Romans (red) or Galatians (blue). This team assignment is made for life and is consistent across any ME3 or SB2W camp that a child attends. Once a Roman, always a Roman. All siblings are also assigned to the same team. In competition time, Day Campers compete Romans vs. Galatians and the lifelong assignment of these teams develop a great sense of team loyalty and camaraderie.
What if I want More than ONE WEEK?
Check out the main Tidewater SB2W page for more info about more weeks. There are 5 other ME3 camps at different times and locations and three two-week SB2W camps. You can sign up for multiple camps on a single registration form (it’s the same form on any of the individual camp pages).
How are Resurrection Community Church and Crosswater Presbyterian Church Connected?
Resurrection Community is a relatively new church in southern Virginia Beach, and a sister church of Crosswater. Jimmy Brock, pastor of Resurrection Community, has many years of experience with and a deep love for the SB2W camp program. He serves as the circuit director for the Tidewater SB2W circuit, while Alejandro Romero, Director of Outreach and Discipleship at Resurrection, serves as the summer staff director. Resurrection Community coordinates the hiring of college-age senior counselors to work at all three camps, as well as the training of other counselors from each local church, and the registration and payment process. That's why registration payments are made to Resurrection Community, even though the camp is hosted by Crosswater. For more information about Resurrection Community, visit www.resurrectionvb.org
MORE QUESTIONS?
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