Warrior Spirit-Live by the Code

At Falling Creek, we talk a lot about The Code. It’s made up of four values: Positive Attitude, Warrior Spirit, Moral Compass, and Servant’s Heart - and they show up in everyday camp life. This week on the blog, we’re sharing stories that highlight what those values look like in action. Some are small, some are funny, some are meaningful—but all of them remind us how the Code helps shape the way we live and treat each other here at camp.

One of the values found in The Code is Warrior Spirit.

Around camp, Warrior Spirit is defined by four simple ideas:

• Live with courage
• Always do your best
• Strengthen your body, mind, and spirit
• Persevere

If you asked campers where they see Warrior Spirit at Falling Creek, many would probably point toward All Camp Games like Domination, a flag football game on a hot day or climbing a massive rock with a sheer drop. Those activities certainly require courage and perseverance.

But after spending time around camp this week, Warrior Spirit is often quieter than that.

The most important battles campers face aren’t always physical. More often, they happen in the moments before a challenge begins. The decision to trust your training. The choice to try again after something doesn’t go according to plan. The willingness to stay calm when your instincts are telling you to panic.

That’s a lesson you can find all over camp. This week, it was found on the tennis courts and at the kayak dock.

At tennis, during a game called “Touch the Fence,” campers sprint after every ball, chasing down shots that seem out of reach before racing back into position. There isn’t much standing around. If a ball is still in play, somebody is running after it.

James G. from Houston, Texas said the game has changed the way he thinks about mistakes.

“Tennis has taught me that messing up once is not the end of the world,” he said. “I always should keep trying because I can get another chance.”

Tennis counselor Charlie said the drill is about much more than footwork.

“The boys are learning how to build endurance,” he said. “Not just physically but in their minds. In long tennis matches, you can feel so close to winning, but you can lose if you don’t have that deep strength.”

“I’m OK”

At the kayak dock, Warrior Spirit sounds surprisingly simple.

“I’m OK!”

That’s what Jez asks every camper to yell after a wet exit.

Before campers can begin paddling whitewater in kayaks, they learn how to safely exit their boat if they flip upside down. One by one, campers tip over, pull their spray skirts, climb out, and surface. As soon as they emerge, Jez wants to hear those two words. “I’m OK!”

The words aren’t really for the instructors. They’re for the campers.

Luke Baugher has spent three years as a kayak instructor and eight summers at Falling Creek as a camper and staff member. He’s watched hundreds of boys work through those first moments upside down in the water.

“It might take a camper one hundred times to fully learn how to roll,” Luke said.

That’s why the progression begins in the lake.

“In other activities, if you struggle, you can always walk a bike down a hill or belay down a rock,” he explained. “But in whitewater, you have to be prepared.”

The lake gives campers a place to build confidence before the consequences get bigger. They flip over. They swim. They climb back into the boat. Then they do it again.

“We give them the confidence from the beginning with no consequences if they swim,” Luke said. “We make them wet exit and we get right back to it. Once boys pass, they are so excited to get to the next step.”

Will T. from Columbus, Ohio experienced that challenge this week.

When I was upside down underwater for the first time, I tried very hard not to think about anything. I just wanted to stay calm and be present.

Will T. continued, “Any time I make a mistake with the spray skirt or flipping, I just try to learn and avoid doing it again in the future,” he said.

Later this week, Will and the other Yaklets hope to paddle Section 9 of the French Broad River.

“It’s going to be scary,” he admitted.

But before the river comes the lake. Before the challenge comes the preparation. Before confidence comes practice.

Jez has a mantra, “Muscle memory comes into play when you are upside down. With repetition comes perfection.”

And every time a camper surfaces from the water, the message stays the same:

“I’m OK.”