What a great trip

I really enjoyed the kids and believe that they got a lot out of this team building trip.

One important idea I wanted them to take back with them is: 

Now they need to make sure that their teammates that were not able to come on the trip are tied in as close with everyone that did go.

And to make sure that everyone believes that..... "Nobody Beats Teamwork".

Clint says

The trip was great spending time with all the guys and getting to know each of them. The team building was a nice way to get things started and set the tone for the rest if the trip.

Garcia sums up the trip

The trip was good for me because it helped me get to know my teammates better and to learn how to trust them in different situations which will help on the court

Matts summary

This trip was a great experience for everyone on it I got to learn so much about my teammates especially the younger ones i did not previously know. I couldn't even pick what I liked more zip lining, camping, hiking, or going on the boats. Id like to say thank you to the Nooner's for taking me on this amazing trip!

Mike says

Overall this trip was great in helping all of us get to know each other a lot better and understand one another in many ways than anyone could guess. A ton of fun and lookin forward to the season with these guys.

Kenny sums up the trip

Very good trip brought us together as a team and got to hangout with my oldbus buddy.(mike)

Bax sums up the trip

Overall the trip was fantastic. The team building exercises were good to start off with as it made us work together and get comfortable with each other. Also the zip lining was awesome, especially the race at the end. The lake house itself was amazing and all the activities we did up there couldn't have been better. Lastly the hiking, swimming, and sight seeing was spectacular.

Hiking the Porkies

After picking the boys up from camping it was time for a quick lube up Northwoods style again to get cleaned up.

Then it was off to the porcupine mountains in the upper peninsula of michigan along Lake Superior.

 The Ojibwa Indians call this lake Gitchigami (get-cha-gu-mee) which means big water.

You know the lake, Gordon Lightfoot used in the song wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald.

It's the largest fresh water lake in the world and contains 10% of the earths fresh water. So yep, it's big.

The boys continued to learned more about one another. Ken became the groups spider expert because he used to ha be a pet tarantula.

They came up with different ways of working together. Like finding a giant log to sit on a paddle down the river to lake supirior.

They found a log and decided to throw it in the water and then use there hands to paddle it down about a 1/4 mile.

It's amazing how easy things started to become once they all worked together.

The boys had a great time in the waterfalls and building bonds. 

Chillin just skipping some rocks.

Top skipper mike with 16. 

Jumping off cliffs getting out of comfort zones and challenging one another.

The Porkies are a beautiful resource and the boys took full advantage. 

Back at the cabin just chillin.

MariBeth and Maddie made another awesome meal.

Now, it's time to relax....

Tommorow is another day....

Friday night camp out

After spending the day on the water it was time to get some equipment together and go camping.

This camp out is meant to be a highlight of the trip that would really allow them to work as a team.

We purposely departed late in the day in order to put some time pressure on the situation.

Basically they had about 3 hours of daylight left to setup a really big tent with no directions, organize the campsite, get diner cooked (steak and potatoes), get everything cleaned up get acampfire  fire going and hang up there good out of the reach of bears.

The tent proved to be a bit challenging but after almost giving up the talked it through did some problem solving and finally figured it out.

They did a great job if figuring everything on their own as a group. 

They all really worked together and had camp set up in no time.

Then i was voted out of the camp with a unanimous vote that they wanted to camp overnight by themselves to make it a little bit more of a challenge.

I picked them up this morning at 11:00 and they had cooked eggs and pancakes over a campfire and everything picked up and clean when I arrived.

They did a great job. I was proud of them for taking so much initiative and welcoming the opportunities to get out of their comfort zones.

Some fun in the sun

We spent the day just having some fun on the water. 

The boys enjoyed just hangin out talkin and learning a little more about each other.

Like... No one new Jackson could do a back flip.

Or that mike could surf behind the boat without a rope.

Campfire

A great way to end a great day

Campfire and s'mores.

Last thing we talked about was Phil Jackson's quote about how there is a circle that is created by a strong team being made up of strong players and strong players make a strong team and how one cannot exist without the other.

As a individual you need to do all you can  on and off the court to be the best player that you can and you owe that to your team.

By doing that the team becomes stronger because each individual thread of the team is stomg.

Team strong= player strong

Lube up!

This is how you clean up after a long day in the nort woods.

Jump off the pontoon in the middle of a dark lake late at night take a bottle of shampoo and Lube Up!

Breaking down Overcoming fear and anxiety. Dark lakes are nothing to fear.

We then did a team drill in the water where each player had to hold a 10 pound rock over there head while treading water.

Of course you cannot do that for long.

So teammates have to come to the rescue.

They had to depend on one another or sink.

Zip line pics

Clint:Just hanging around 

Andrew:Ag and pez where having fun

Jackson:Jackson and mike were hanging loose

Mike:That bridge

Kenny:Chillen in the trees

Matt:holding on for dear life 

Mike says

Great day overall, started out with some team building which that went great. Then we finished off on the zip lines which was awesome.I like goin fast. I don't know of I can take sitting next to Matt anymore on this bus tho because all he talks about is bears.

Matt says

Team building really brought us together. The challenges were tough and fun .Zip lining was amazing. I beat mike at the end where you race he is super slow. Looking to hunt bear soon didn't bring any weapons will have to set traps. Hopefully I can bring down a big one and earn a little respect around here. 

Kenny says

Had a solid day with teambuilding activities and faced my fear of heights

Jackson says

The team building activities really helped our communication and taught is different ways to think. My favorite one was the snake because we were able to help each other cross the area by hanging from a rope

Andrew says

I loved the zip lining especially the beast, it was fun and excited 

Clint Nooner says

Team building helped with the communication between everyone 

Team work is a balancing act

The boys found out that working as a team is an ever changing dynamic that requires constant adjustment. Mostly done with small changes. Avoid getting down on your team mate too hard, make small constant adjustments that does not distruptive the balance of the team.

The platform is a big tester totter that is super sensitive to imbalances.

Building bridges solving problems

This was a big problem solving activity

They failed early because only one or two were talking.

Once they all started contributing to solving the problem they quickly figured it out and worked closely to succeed