Counselor Competitions

Each summer at FCDC the three ranks of counselors, Head Counselors, Assistant Counselors, and CITs, compete head-to-head in various alternative sporting events. These competitions typically involve racing to complete a physical task in less time than the other team. Most competitions are repeated each summer, although some only make an appearance every few years.

All competitions pit the Heads, Assistants, & CITs against one another with two notable exceptions: Food Relay and Battle Royale. Historically in these two competitions CITs have either been non-participants or have had two representatives join the Head or Assistant team.

Victory in a counselor competition results in the winning team being awarded 1 point. After all of the competitions in a summer have taken place, the team that has accumulated the greatest amount of points is declared the winning team. Their prize is honor and glory in the heat of battle.

Campers are invited to participate in certain counselor competitions, although their roles typically do not pit them directly against counselors; more often they function as an accessory to a counselor team.

List of Popular Counselor Competitions
Food Relay - Four "couples" (typically one boy and one girl) on each team race to complete a set of physical challenges while working in tandem.


 * Phase 1 - All eight team members line up and pass an egg from the front of the line to the back using only their elbows. Then an orange is passed down the line from person to person; team members must clench the orange in their necks and transfer it to the next person neck-to-neck. If either the egg breaks or the orange is dropped, the team member who failed must retrieve the item and start again (with a new egg if necessary.)


 * Phase 2 - Couples take turns running from one side of the playing field to the opposite side in order to reach the objectives for Phase 2. While traveling accross the field of play the boy must give the girl a piggyback ride. The objective for the girl is to pop a large waterballoon that has been placed on a picnic table bench with her buttocks. The objective for the boy is to pick up a baseball bat that has been placed next to the picnic table, put one end of the bat on the ground and one end on his forehead, and then spin around 10 times without losing the bat's contact with the ground or forehead. Upon completing both objetives, the boy and girl run hand-in-hand (with difficulty, due to the boy's dizziness) back to the inital side of the playing field, and the next couple on their team takes their turn at Phase 2.


 * Phase 3 - Before the competition begins one member of each team is named the Queen (historically the eldest female counselor on the team) In Phase 3, the remaining seven team members lay on their backs in a row so their their heads are lined up. The Queen then picks up two full cans of whipped cream and runs across the line of her teammates' heads spraying whipped cream into their mouths, the point of which is to empty both cans. Whichever Queen empties her whipped cream first wins the competition for her team.



The Battle Royale - Historically the dramatic final confrontation between the Head Counselors and the Assistant Counselors, this competition is water polo with less rules. Each team has twelve team members and is granted territory on one side of a large pool. An enourmous, inflatable orange ball is thrown into the center of the pool, and each team tries to push the ball onto the rim of the opposing team's side of the pool. Doing so earns that team an in-game point, and then the ball is reset in the center.

Depending on the length of time available for points to accumulate, the amount of points needed to win the competition varies. In fast-paced games, usually two points will decide the winner, but when no points are scored for a long period of time a single point could be declared the winning point.

The Battle Royale is widely regarded as the most physically strenuous counselor competition at FCDC.

The Mummy Wrap - Teams of three counselors race to wrap a fourth counselor in toilet paper, turning them into a mummy, in a set amount of time. One camper is assigned to each counselor team to to provide additional assistance. The mummified counselor wears a silly animal mask for the duration of the competition. When time has run out, the team that has done the best wrapping job and has fully covered the body of their mummy wins the competition. Since the results of this competition are partially subjective, an impartial party such as the camp nurse selects the winning team.

Oatmeal - Each team has six counselors and two campers, who all sit on the ground with their legs spread in front of them in a single file line. The counselor at the front of the line has a large container of oatmeal in front of them, and the counselor in the back of the line has an empty bucket behind them. When the competition begins the front counselor cups their hands and passes a handful of oatmeal over their head to the person behind them. The oatmeal continues to be passed backward over each person's head until it reaches the back of the line. Once the counselor in the back receives the oatmeal they add it to the empty bucket that is behind them.

A tone rings eight times throughout the competition, prompting the team members to shuffle their positions in the line; by the end of the competition everyone will have participated in the front role and back role. The team whose rear bucket is filled with the most oatmeal when time is up wins the competition. Historically, judging whose bucket is most filled has been the responsibility of the camp's owner, an impartial party.

Pool Relay - Six counselors and six campers per team participate in a swimming race. In an alternating camper/counselor order, one team member swims the length of a large pool carrying a ring that naturally sinks in water; if the ring is dropped they must dive to retrieve it before continuing. Upon reaching the other side of the pool, they pass it to their next teammate on that side who continues the race and will pass the ring to their next teamate. The first team whose members all finish their lap wins the competition.

The Pool Relay is unique in that it is the one competition in which the Assistants and CITs display a clear advantage over the Heads, with the Head team rarely winning this particular competition.

Blind Chairing - Musical chairs with a twist. The three teams of three members each are situated around a circle of eight chairs (one less than the number of people), which they must walk around while a musical number plays. As soon as the song stops, each counselor must find a seat to sit in or else they will be eliminated.

To make things more interesting, each competitor is blindfolded at the start of the competition. Once the competition is halfway complete (four chairs remaining) impartial referee counselors pick up the chairs and move them to random locations on the playing field, forcing the blindfolded competitors to flail wildly searching for them.The player who is not eliminated during the final round is declared the winner of the competition, but the point is awarded to the team that had on average the longest lasting competitors. For example, if 1st place went to a CIT, but 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place were all Heads, then the heads would be awarded the point.

Spaghetti - A classic eating competition, with a twist! Two competitors from each rank (including campers) must eat a large portion of spaghetti and red tomato sauce as quickly as possible using their bare hands. The competitor who cleans their plate first is put into the running for "Eating Champion" of the summer, but the point for this competition is awarded to the team that finishes with the heighest average score. For example, if the winning slots were #1 Head, #2 Assistant, #3 Assistant, #4 CIT, and #5 Head, then the Assistant team would be awarded the point.

Watermelon - Another classic eating competition. Two competitors from each rank (including campers) are each given two enourmous slices of a watermelon. The competitors must race to finish their watermelon slices before their opponents do. The rules for awarding the point to a winning team are the same as in Spaghetti, and the winner of Watermelon is also put into the running for "Eating Champion" of the summer.

Consideration is given to the fact that a sloppy eater will lose much of ther fruit as it falls to the ground. This means that at the end of the competition participants with a lot of watermelon at their feet are technically considered to have cheated, have eaten less watermelon than everyone else. For this reason, competitors are careful not to drop any melon as they eat it.

Mystery Competition - One representative from each rank of counselors is blindfolded and seated at a picnic table. Items are placed in front of them, and when the competition begins they must "do what they think they should do" with those items. Upon feeling the items with their hands, the counselors must do whatever comes naturally to them. Things are not always as they seem, however.

Trivia

 * The Head Team wins competitions more frequently than the other two, although there have been summers dominated by the Assistant Team. There is no record of the CIT Team winning an entire summer.