The sun shone brightly as I walked across the Herbert W. Armstrong College campus on the last day of regular activities. I could hear the cheers and enthusiastic chatter of 24 girl campers when I was still over 100 meters away. The class started promptly, and the girls sprinted onto the field to start their last soccer game of the camp.

2G (aka Ruth’s Pillar Lights) was the last dorm I followed, and their game-play showed that the dorm had bonded well. Counselor Brooke Davis paced up and down the field and called out for Stephanie to cross the ball to Callie. The girls heeded and scored a goal only a few minutes in. As the girls returned to their half of the field, instructor Panayiota Tolis cooled the girls down with the refreshing spray of her water gun, resulting in several high-pitched squeals.

“The challenge we have faced is to cater to everyone’s interest and skill level,” head soccer instructor Anthony Chibarirwe said. “We want to give instruction that is useful to everyone, so [during games] I go out to individual players [on the field] and point to things to improve so I can tailor the instruction to the individual.”

Just as he finished talking, Chibarirwe ran out to the field to give some pointers to one of the 2G’s light blue-clad campers. As the next play started, Rishanna Cheek, a kitchen staff volunteer and 2G’s aunt, joined the field to help her niece dorm with the next play.

“We have improved a lot over camp,” 16-year-old Callie told me on her water break. “First couple of games were rough, but as we have gotten closer as a dorm, we have worked together. I love them. We are very sisterly.”

“I am very proud of how receptive they are,” said Davis. “They have extremely good attitudes,” she added.

As 2G worked to make up some lost ground from several goals scored by 5G, the girls were still smiling.

“It’s not about a winning or losing attitude,” said Audrey who joined me by the water jugs on the sidelines. “Staying positive and working as a team helped us a lot.”

Although the game ended in a 5G victory, the girls from both dorms hugged each other before the traditional end-of-game huddle. Instructors Victoria Lancaster and Tolis ran around the circle of blue and gray girls, spraying the girls with water. Then Chibarirwe and assistant instructor Joel Price distributed tickets to the four winning girls: 2G’s Adrienne and Janice, and 5G’s Kassie and Berkeley. 2G attempted a cheer for the instructors about the fifa World Cup, but the girls burst into a fit of laughter, and all I could hear was a jumble of words. Davis rallied her girls back together to cheer for their fellow girls dorm: “Thanks for kicking off our final game, 5G!”