LAGO VISTA—The end of Character Camp culminates in a bout of enthusiastic yells and calls from campers as they watch the battle for the “bone.”

After a whistle and a point of the finger from Athletic Director Alan Haire, the Lago Vista High School sophomores and juniors watch closely as two campers walk onto the mat and lock arms on the “bone”—a flimsy, white baton made mostly of tape. The whistle comes, and the two battle with all of the strength left in their bodies to drag their opponent to their side of the mat. It is the final exercise in a grueling 45-minute regimen that pushes the campers to their physical limits.
“They have to put in a little extra,” Coach Derek Levisay said of the final exercise of the day. “That’s our overtime.”
Parents, students and Lago Vista school district staff were part of Character Camp’s final day Friday. The six-week training program has grown in popularity since Haire introduced it to the athletic program eight years ago. He said the voluntary program enrolled 85 sophomores and juniors this year, which he admits is a little surprising for him.
“I do get surprised,” he said. “We get some kids who try enroll in the spring … I think kids want structure this day and age.”
Haire said inviting parents and district staff to watch the final day puts his athletes in a game day setting, preparing some for a competitive edge that could be used on the field or court. For non-athletes, he said, it is still beneficial.
“A lot of kids may not do a highly competitive sport year-round, so this might be the only time in the spring their heart rate went up and they got a little nervous,” he said. “I want them to look at these people and say, ‘man, I’ve got to work.’”
The campers do work. They hoist barbells by the timing of a coach’s whistle. They run through rope patterns set on the ground. They hit the floor and charge forward at the sound of a whistle, and quickly fall back in line. The blinding process moves throughout the Viking gym, a sense of urgency and energy in the air.
Before hitting the gym, campers are in the classroom as coaches teach decision making and reinforcing positive values. Haire said the mental element of Character Camp is just as important as the physical training.
“My ideal of being a man is not how rough and gruff you are,” Haire said. “It’s how you build a relationship with somebody and while you’re here on this earth making it a better place.”
That line of thought comes through in Haire’s final speech to the campers Friday. Lined up with one knee raised and an arm symbolically placed on their fellow athlete’s shoulder, Haire asks them to make the right decision when that time comes.
“When you tell yourself over and over, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t do this,’ that is probably going to be the right answer,” he said.
Character Camp’s theme this year, “A Perfect Day,” carries through the entire program. The coaches work the campers to push their strive for perfection, and every coach does not expect anything less.
“The first thing is it teaches them discipline,” Levisay said. “And every day they come in here, they have to do everything correct, perfect. There will be some mistakes made, but overall it’s going to benefit everything we do.”
As enrollment grows, Haire said parents should be proud to see their sons enroll in the program as it should them become successful in at what times can be a harsh world.
“Life is hard. The world’s hard. The world don’t care about your weakness. You have to make your own way. This is an opportunity for them to persevere through hard times,” he said.