Local youth having ‘Summer’s Best Two Weeks’ at day camp

Summer’s Best Two Weeks is a Christian sports day camp that is hosted by Lebanon Church in West Mifflin.

“God first, others second, and I’m third.”

That’s the motto for “Summer’s Best Two Weeks”, a sports day camp held by Lebanon Presbyterian Church in West Mifflin.

The camp, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., started July 21 and will wrap up Friday.

The Christian sports day camp has been going on for 40 years, according to one of the camp directors, Maria Costa, who said those involved in the camp help “revitalize” the church in some way.

“Basically, it is a sports camp where there are two teams, the Romans and the Galatians,” Costa said. “It’s a biblical-based sports camp, so those are two different books of the Bible, and (the kids) compete for the glory of God.”

The camp is staffed by trained local college and high school students with 57 kids in third through eighthgrade participating from West Mifflin, the Thomas Jefferson School District area, Munhall and more. There are squads based on age range – three boy and girl squads – with two to three counselors.

Campers learn to work and play together using their motto – learning to win and lose with grace. A typical day consists of foursquare, other sporting activities like frisbee, track and field activities, volleyball, soccer, hockey and more.

“This day camp emphasizes the fun and fullness of life Jesus Christ brings to us,” Lebanon Church’s website states. “Campers are encouraged to grow in a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, and to exhibit a Christian lifestyle in all areas of their lives while participating in all kinds of awesome activities.”

Daily activities take place on the grounds of both Lebanon Church and Holy Spirit Catholic Church. There are team games, Bible studies, challenge verses, those competition sports, daily devotions and more for kids to participate in. The kids are also provided lunches and T-shirts.

Different teams compete to earn a “S,” which stands for Summer’s Best Two Weeks, according to Costa. The Romans team has won camp seven years in a row, but the Galician team has been coming through with hard workers that may win this year.

“It’s kind of like our reward system,” Costa said. “Each test that campers get would be a point for their team. We score everything, and competitions are different from skills. Capture the flag is our competition, which is fun. They are always excited to go out into the woods and try to win points for their team. It’s always exciting to see the campers competing and telling the younger campers to work hard, do this for God.”

Costa said she has been doing this camp most of her life, ever since she started in third grade as a camper and continued throughout the years. High school and college age kids help as camp counselors, with around 30 people along with adult directors helping.

“This year, we have been trying to focus on getting more campers who are graduating from camp to help with staff, which is important because I have two little brothers in high school and they do it,” Costa said. “So it’s really fun seeing kids their age or a little bit younger still get involved after they are not a camper.”

Some other fun activities Costa mentioned was the overnight camping trip that happened last week for boys and girls, which is one of their special activities, and this week, they had a track meet.

Costa added it’s a family affair, as her mom also helps. Her cousin Zach Galioto is also a director and loves the overnight camp.

“I have been doing the camp for 18 years since I entered when I was in third grade,” Galioto said. “Since then, I have done every position, all the way up until now where I am the assistant director with Maria. It’s just one of those things that takes time off of work and brings my laptop to work because it is important to me.”

Even though it can be an exhausting two weeks, Galioto added, they have a part of camp called “Cross Talk” where they discuss Jesus during the overnight camp.

“For a lot of them, this is the only time they will hear this,” he said. “It’s really important that they hear that story, and my favorite part is seeing them react to it.”

Costa tries to get people involved in the camp all year long as summer approaches, and she hopes more people can come and join them next year.

“It definitely means the world to me,” Costa said. “It really was the best two weeks of summer for me, at least as a camper. So being a counselor and now partially a director, that’s my goal is to get kids excited to come here every two weeks. It’s been an awesome ride being with my family and friends that are involved in camp, and it makes me really excited to help the campers out as well – giving them the experience that I had.”

More about the camp can be found at the church’s website at https://www.lebanonchurch. net/.