By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
From modest beginnings, great things have happened for the Fal-Rooney Olympic Camp in Montgomery.
When the camp started 11 years ago, organizers weren’t sure what to expect. Having just completed their 50th session, the success of the camp whose motto is ‘If U had fun U won’ seemed inevitable.
“It started as one week in the summer,” said Suzanne Trautwein, one of the four camp directors. “Then we added one day when the kids were off from school and then it started getting bigger and bigger. Word got out and we started to be able to do more with it. What’s nice is some kids like to go every week and some like to go for just one week. Whatever works best for the kids.”
Trautwein runs the camp along her brother, Johnny, her husband, Erich, and Mike Falco. The Trautweins and Rooney all graduated Montgomery High School, while Suzanne, Falco and Rooney teach in the district.
“We started the first couple years with fifth through ninth graders and we kept moving it down a year,” Rooney said. “Now in the summer time we go from first graders all the way to ninth. It is a great camp that is co-ed lot with a lot of different grades. The cool thing is a lot of kids don’t know each other before they get to the camp and they are meeting others that are maybe a year or two years apart in age. They realize they live near each other or go to the same school. A lot of friendships are made while the kids are at camp.”
The camp divides campers into four different teams for the week. Points are awarded throughout the week from competitions in a variety of sports and games. At the conclusion of the week a champion is crowned.
“The concept of the camp is kids split into different teams and are on that same color all week,” Suzanne Trautwein said. “They get to know their coaches and teammates and compete as a team all week and then at the end there is one winner. We concentrate on teamwork and sportsmanship. They learn how to win and also how to lose. We have all noticed as teachers a lot of kids become ‘winners’ and then kids having a hard time losing. We try to let them know there is nothing wrong with losing.”
Added Rooney: “The biggest thing we try to teach is the sportsmanship and being a good losers. We’re all coaches and we talk about how you lose more than you win sometimes. On the last day we announce a champion. It got to the points where we made it less of a deal. Then we said, ‘let’s make it a big deal.’ Now we wait until the very end and at 1:58 right before camp lets out we announce the winner and let the kids celebrate. The winning and losing has really improved. We say it is okay to be sad when you lose, but you can’t be upset because you lost the Fal-Rooney Cup.”
The 50th session of the camp concluded this week and the numbers have continued to grow. It’s a camp where nothing is specialized and no matter what level of athleticism, each camper fits right in.
“It is something different,” Suzanne Trautwein said. “We make sure people understand it is not just for the athletic kid. It is for the child who wants to interact and make some friends and be competitive. It is fun games and competitive in a way that most kids can participate.”
In addition to the camp directors, there are high school ‘Role Models’ who serve as coaches for the teams as well. Some of the Role Models is high school or college aged and many have attended the camp themselves at a younger age.
“I would say that in the early years a lot of softball players of ours served as Role Models and we had some other kids as well,” Rooney said. “Now a lot of our former campers/students are the Role Models, which makes it nice. They know the routine and how it runs and it is also fun for them.”
The camp will typically run four sessions in the summer as well as other sessions throughout the year when school is not in session. It has found its own niche within Montgomery and gives campers just the right mix of fun and competition.
“Montgomery has gotten so big the kids don’t all know each,” Suzanne Trautwein said. “We try to create that sense of community again. Johnny, Erich and I all grew up in Montgomery when it was a much different town. My students will come into second grade and they’ll know one or two of the other kids from the camp and that’s nice to see.
“This was our best summer in 11 years and every summer it gets better. We have been doing it for a while now and everyone works well together.”
And having a strong support staff certainly helps.
“We have an awesome staff,” Suzanne Trautwein said. “We hired a full-time nurse five years ago who is on staff. And we really value the kids that work for us. We call them Role Models on purpose and that makes a huge impact with the families and the children. They get to have their coach who is a role model they can relate to them. They are not a teacher and not a coach, but someone the kids can relate to. I wish a camp like this was around when I was younger.”
