Greetings! My nameis Chris Sementelli and I am the Manager of MaineGeneral Sports Medicine at MaineGeneral Medical Center as well as the athletic trainer who provides Sports Medicine services for the campers at Vega. I have been working with Kyle, Emily and Linda and the campers for the past 8 years. I work directly with our MaineGeneral primary care and orthopedic physicians as well as the health center staff at Vega. This is my 21st year in practice in Central Maine.

Each year, we consistently see a number of common overuse injuries acquired during the first 2-3 weeks of camp. The purpose of this letter is to attempt to mitigate some of these common yet preventable overuse problems.

Two primary complaints that are referred to me by the health care staff are shin splints and ankle/heel pain. These injuries often occur simply because of footwear. Please remind your daughter(s)that sneakers are the best footwear and use of flip flops throughout the day is not a good idea. In young athletes, footwear that is not foot/arch supportive during day-long activities can contribute to heel and shin pain. These injuries will generally lead to persistent pain that may keep your daughter out of sports/activities until the problem can be better managed.

The other common complaint that I see is knee pain. Female athletes have a higher incidence of knee and knee cap (patella-femoral) pain than their male counterparts. The reasons for this are numerous, but we do know that again, proper footwear and a decent level of strength and conditioning will help prevent or lessen the incidences of this malady. If your camper is not involved in a spring sport, it will be helpful to remind her that beginning or maintaining a basic level of strength and conditioning is a good way to help prevent this problem.

If your camper has a pre-existing sports/orthopedic injury and needs specific bracing, taping, treatment protocols, or other specific instructions, please make sure that has been indicated on the health history forms. We will be reviewing this information and be in touch if we have any questions.

Sincerely,
Christopher J. Sementelli, M.Ed., LATC
Manager – MaineGeneral Sports Medicine|
MaineGeneral Medical Center

After a her victories at regional and state free throw competitions, Lily Kamin made her way to the Nationals.  Hundreds of people from all over the country came to cheer on their children at this unique event.  Lily represented herself, her family and Vega with outstanding character.  Even though she finished in the middle of the pack (6th out of 12 places), she kept a smile on her face and had fun.  She hopes to make it back to the basketball hall of fame next year!

We received some sad new this week that Senior Group Leader, Claire Winship, would not be able to work at Vega this summer.  Claire has an amazing job working with kids in Boston and is beginning her Master’s degree program soon,  so she is no longer able to leave the real world for the extraordinary world of Vega.  We will miss you Claire!

Accordingly, we also have some exciting news too, which is that the 2012 Senior Group Leader will be Samantha (Sammy) Krieger!  Sammy was a camper for many years and a fantastic counselor in 2010.  You can read Sammy’s bio on our Meet the Staff page.  We are so thrilled for Sammy to join the amazing team of Group Leaders in Unity and can hardly wait for the summer to get started!

So long for now from the shores of Echo Lake.

Best,

Kyle and Emily

We hope you’ve had a great spring so far!  Today we begin packing up the winter office and heading up to camp for the summer.  We cannot wait to get to those beautiful shores of Echo Lake!

We would also like to remind both parents and staff members who have not already logged into their Camp in Touch accounts to please do so.  All of your forms and information are located here.

Staff members: the 2012 staff manual is online for your reading pleasure.  The staff manual has a plethora of information about camp, so please read it at your convenience as you are required to be familiar with camp and our policies.

Parents and campers: there are several forms due on  May 1st, and we hope that you can take a brief moment to login and make sure that you are up to date on your forms as well.  Remember that if you would like to see a copy of your (or your daughter’s) schedule, you can email Sandy our Program Director, sandy@campvega.com, to request one.

Thanks and see you soon!

Kyle and Emily

Last Saturday, April 21st, 2012, 21 new Vega campers and their parents gathered in NYC with Kyle and Emily.  The event was so much fun and both girls and their parents came with a lot of great questions about Vega and the sleepaway camp experience.  The get together provided an opportunity to meet other girls embarking on their first summer at Vega!

We also got a chance to talk to girls about what they are looking forward to at camp this summer.  Among some of the answers we heard the most were making new friends, water skiing, soccer, ropes and the water zip line!

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend!  It was wonderful to see all of your smiling faces and share our enthusiasm for your very first summer at CAMP VEGA!  Yeah Vega 2012!  Wooo!

We are excited to announce that our 2012 Group Leaders are finalized!  This incredibly warm and fun group of women will leader your daughter’s age group throughout the summer.  Their experience and Vega passion goes above and beyond, and we are so proud to have them as a part of the Vega leadership team.

Kent Moore: Sub Juniors/Juniors
Nicole Kugler: Sub Super Juniors
Liz Lepere: Super Juniors
Cait Ellis: Inters
Claire Winship: Seniors
Megan Schallom: Super Seniors
Whitney Glenn: Tamary

Families will receive an introduction email from their daughter’s group leader in early June.  Also, a plethora of this year’s staff have sent us brief biographies that we have been uploading to the Meet The Staff page, and we are uploading more as often as we can.  We hope you have fun getting to know a little bit about the 2012 staff!

Lily and Joe will now compete against 11 other contestants, in each age group, throughout the United States on April 28th to become the National Hoop Shoot Champion. Winners of the National Competition will receive first place honors and will also have their name inscribed on the wall of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. In the country over 3 million boys and girls ages 8-13 compete in this National Contest

Lily has always been very positive and determined and we will be rooting for her in the National Finals.  Whether she win or not, we are very proud of her incredible basketball accomplishments!

Way to go Lily!  Your hard work and practice on the court paid off in this impressive accomplishment – we are so proud of you and good luck on the North East Regionals!

We want the Newsletter this week to be an interactive one and need your help!   As you may know, Camp Vega (like all ACA accredited camps) is  routinely visited by the American Camping Association (www.acacamps.org) every four years to renew our accreditation.  Last summer, thanks to our diligent staff and awesome campers we received a perfect score in every single category!

However, we know that while the standards of the ACA ensure that Vega maintains a safe community, they are not what makes Vega one of the best girls summer camps in the country.  So, we want to know from you – what makes Vega special for you?  What do you look forward every summer?  Why does Vega feel like your summer home?

Leave your reply here or click the “leave comment” link under this article.  Parent and alum comments also welcome!

Thanks and have a great weekend,
Linda, Kyle and Emily

Nearly all of the forms are active on your Camp in Touch Account online for your viewing pleasure!  Some of the newly activated 2012 forms include: the Visiting Day Registration From, where parents can choose what day they are coming along with any guests; the Activity Selection Form, where you choose what activities you want on your schedule; the Family Weekend Registration Form; and the Health History Form.

We are going to start on Pen Pals and Big Sisters, and hope to have that information to 1st year campers soon!