Wednesday September 29, Saint Joe sent 8 student athletes to Elkhart’s 5 Star camp to learn more about leadership within the teams in the NIC! Lauren Frick (soccer), Sam Harshman (soccer), Jayce Lee (baseball, basketball), Riley Zache (softball), Gabe Nanni (soccer, basketball) , Abby Reese (volleyball) , Jane Lloyd (swimming) and Jack Quinn (basketball, baseball) were all selected by the athletic director. 

Ten out of the eleven NIC teams were in attendance, all the South Bend Corporation schools, Elkhart, St. Joe, and Marian. Students from different schools were split up into four groups, creating new units learning how to function together and work as a team. 

The day was broken into four challenges; including archery, hatchery, boating, horseback riding, and rock wall climbing. Archery consisted of learning how to take up a bow and arrow, aiming and working on consistency. It focused mainly on the safety of participants and patience, as most beginners were not likely to hit the bullseye on the first go-round.

Rock wall climbing offered four walls in increasing difficulty. Easy, medium, difficult and extreme. This course focused on perspective, as you needed to listen to teammates on the ground to gather your bearings while you were up on the wall.

Boating was a team obstacle course that’s main focus was teamwork and conductivity among several people. Lastly, hatchery was axe throwing that once again focused on persistence and consistency. After each exercise the students would take a step back and look at leadership from a new perspective. New skills like dependence on teammates, reliance on coaches and perseverance were developed throughout the day.