The 2nd Annual Youth Woodsmen Competition kicked off today and hearts were racin’, muscles were pumpin’, and legs were stretchin’.
The Woodsmen is a competition that dates back to the early 1950’s, when President John F. Kennedy said that “physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” President Kennedy’s famous words resonated with the whole nation, and as a result many of today’s mainstay fitness competitions emerged from this Golden Era of physical fitness. The Youth Woodsmen is a fitness competition between the various camps of Northern Minnesota. It tests not only campers’ strength and endurance, but agility and flexibility as well. These tests are to be completed at the beginning and end of each session. The results will be entered into a complicated statistical modeling program for analysis. Individual, small group, and camp awards based on performance, improvement, and other criteria will be presented on-air during the WELK Radio Show at the end of each session.
Not only will campers see their fitness improve serendipitously throughout the session as a result of our extensive wilderness tripping and multiple activity periods daily, but many campers have already become motivated to wake up extra early and take part in personal training programs put on by our veteran counselors. The Youth Woodsmen program motivates the campers.
Coming off a strong 2017 season, where we placed top 5 in every category (except for flexibility), Camp Voyageur is poised for another solid year. The peninsula is teeming with boys who want to prove themselves worthy of the Woodsmen. Sweat is in the air. Stay tuned for more updates, and check out more pictures on smug mug.
