Gator Coaches Retreat Pics

Tonda and Jim, Carol and Glen took 14 of the 16 high school aged Gator coaches up to Wintergreen after Saturday's A Meet against Vienna Woods so they could work on the beloved paper plate awards, commune with nature, and hang out together.

The coaches were successful at all three.  They took three great hikes, went to Wintergreen Lake and played on the water toys, they ate great group meals together, and came up with great paper plate awards for Saturday's team banquet.

Here are some pictures from the retreat:

Jessie and Cassidy point in One Direction.

It's hard to recognize the coaches without

8 & unders jumping on their backs.

Gators moved too swiftly

to be photographed at 

Upper Shamokin Falls

The Lesser Talented Blogger

spotted in his natural habitat.

Gators 3600 feet above sea level.

Taking in the view.

If you don't immediately Snapchat,
 are you really having fun?

The hike was hard, but having Perrier

to drink made it a tad more luxurious.

On a clear day, you can see West Virginia.

No matter that it was hot and hazy in the 

Shenandoah Valley, it was a cool 72 up top.

Contemplating the vastness of the Gator domain.

The guys after conquering

Humpback Rocks

Cameron and Ian (Baker)

Anna's enjoying the view.  Cassidy is

looking for a pool to swim laps in.

Our fearless Gator leader contemplates

conquering new lands!

The intrepid 10 who got up at 7am

on Sunday morning for a great hike.

Parker's hangout spot.

My hair could be like Ian's if

I could grow it that long. 

Ian Neal contemplates

nature from a rock chair.

Elaina climbs the cliff.

The day turned tragic as

Jim snapped this picture just

as Parker lost her grip and

plunged down the cliff to her

death.  (Just kidding -- no

Gators were harmed in the 

making of this picture!

I bet Talley and Chris are

still laughing about this caption!)

Trampoline fun at the lake.

(Yes, Gators can swim well, but the

lifejackets are required for the trampoline

and for the iceberg)

It was king of the hill on the iceberg.

Someone was about to get tossed

into the water.

The volleyball game showed

why they are swimmers!

Ready to launch

Mid-air!

And in!

Post-launch, they were ready for lunch!

The coaches (and parents) were there for about 21 hours, and packed in tons of fun.    

There are no pictures of the paper plate award process, because course it is against regulations to depict the making of the paper plate awards, lest the little Gators learn the older Gators secrets.  Some day, hopefully the swimmers with little hands, little feet will be Gator coaches too!