Today’s newsletter comes from Charlie Malcolm, assistant director, long-time athletic director, and coach of many of our soccer and baseball teams. Enjoy!

Over the last thirty-plus summers, I’ve provided a recap of our Tecumseh Day each year with a different thematic lens.  Over the years, we’ve explored the day through photos, the day of a junior or senior, or a deep dive into each event, highlighting the triumphant or turning point moments.  This year, before firing out the results and reviewing the day that individual coaches will cover in detail in Bean Soup 2024, I want to describe the preparation and purpose of the day.   Tecumseh Day involves five age groups (u-10, 11, 12, 13, and u-15) competing in four sports; there are many moving parts to consider when preparing for this full day of competition, close losses in 2022 (8-12) and (7-9-4) in 2023. After carefully evaluating the last two year’s experience, we changed how we approach and participate in the oldest camp rivalry in sports.   

Camp Pemi and our friends from Camp Tecumseh on Lake Winnipesaukee have engaged in a spirited competition for over a hundred years. It is an experience that Pemi alumni remember, and each summer, on the last Friday in July, they are instinctively pulled to the Pemi Twitter and Instagram universe to follow the scores as they roll in.  Many Pemi alums longing to be back at camp take vacation time from work to help their camp prepare for this day.  This year, we welcome Ned Roosevelt, Chris Johnson, Will Meinke, and Andrew Konovsky to camp.

Pemi’s new camp calendar, dividing the first and second sessions into three- and four-week experiences, provided our boys with a few more days to build teams while combining our full-season campers and our newly arriving second-half campers. Our second-season and full-season campers tend to be our veteran campers, who know the Tecumseh Day challenge well. 

In the past, the Mess Hall vibrated with chants and cheers as the boys and their coaches shared their excitement and the prospect of another close and exhilarating Tecumseh Day. The seniors often lead rhythmic cheers that create palpable energy in the dining hall, usually driving Larry Davis to the porch. There have been times when the energy in the dining hall didn’t always match the level of preparation or the intensity needed on the field to carry the day.  I might be old-school, but the translation of the energy for dining hall cheering didn’t always translate into quality preparation and perseverance.

For those reading the Tecumseh Day newsletter for the first time, here’s a short synopsis of the oldest camp rivalry.  After Camp Pemigewassett’s founding in 1908, Pemi and Tecumseh began competing in inter-camp sports.  Camp Tecumseh sits on a majestic bluff overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee. It is a stunning setting, and our friends from Camp Tecumseh, a camp dedicated to athletic competition, always post an incredible challenge for a camp that remains committed to a camping experience grounded in exploring a more comprehensive range of activities. Since the 1960s, Camp Tecumseh has won most of the all-day competitions, save victories in 1967, 1983, 1998, and 2012.  

Since the 1980s, Pemi and Tecumseh have rolled out five age groups (10 and under, 11s, 12s, 13s, and 15 and under) across four sports (baseball, tennis, soccer, and swimming); whoever wins the most events wins the bronze hat of George Munger.  Camp Pemi Tecumseh Day historian David Spindler noted that adding 11s as a fifth age group has made this day more difficult for Pemi, a camp with fewer campers.  On the other hand, the expansion of this age group matches the healthy growth of younger camper enrollment and provides more kids an opportunity to compete. 

Before the 1970s, Pemi and Tecumseh participated in two days of competition when every boy was a seven-week camper.  The transformational seven-week experience at a summer camp allows the boys to harness growth opportunities while building strong community bonds.  The Tecumseh Day we know today was shaped in large part by the events that transpired In 1967 when longtime, legendary Tecumseh Director George Munger handed Tom Reed his old straw hat when Camp Pemi reversed an earlier defeat with a dominant performance on the waterfront and an incredibly clutch performance on the tennis court by Bill Pruden and Mac Cushing.  The 1967 victory ended a sixteen-year drought for Camp Pemi. (You can read an account of this moment from Dottie Reed and Fred Seebeck: Why do we play for Mr. Munger’s hat? ) Mr. Munger, a football coach at the University of Pennsylvania, who knew something about competition and the importance of perseverance and preparation, delivered these words when presenting The Hat for the first time after a Pemi victory:

“Tom, Al, Dr. Nichols, and all of you men of Pemigewassett, I represent all of my friends at Tecumseh in offering you our sincerest congratulations. We are deeply impressed with the work you have devoted to turning the tables on us and triumphing today. The spirit and effort we witnessed on the fields from all of you was extraordinary.” Mr. Munger pauses, evoking considerable clapping and some whistling. Settling the crowd with one hand and doffing his tattered straw hat with the other, Mr. Munger goes on: “Let this hat stand in testimony to your incredible work today, Camp Pemi. Our respect for you, our friends and competitors, has never been greater. On behalf of every one of us at Tecumseh, I thank you as I stand in awe of what you have accomplished!”

To understand and appreciate Munger’s gracious speech, one must understand the work of Pemi’s swim coach, The Reverend Terry Sweetser, who believed in the boys, wasn’t satisfied with the effort and results of the first day at Tecumseh and decided to inspire the Pemi boys to work hard in swimming to prepare for the second day of competition.   Each team made significant, measurable progress by embracing the follow-through and commitment necessary to improve significantly.  These efforts didn’t mean campers weren’t hiking mountains or working in the shop. However, it did mean there was an intentionality about the time and level of commitment when preparing.  Pemi’s hard work to improve and reverse this early season defeat “deeply impressed” Mr. Munger and inspired his gracious acknowledgment of Pemi’s incredible efforts and impressive victory.   

After another close loss in 2023, Head of Staff Josh Scarponi, Donovan Laas, Andy MacDonald, and others looked closely at our preparation, from organizing practices and games against other camps to supporting our campers during the long day of competition.  This summer, when the second-half boys arrived, Donovan Laas met with the Pemi community to explain the importance of spending less time chanting and firing up the community and less energy on loud music and hyper-energetic morning exercises on the morning of Tecumseh Day.  Instead, Donovan advocated more focus on training and preparation. More importantly, we need to spend more time building a community so that you can compete for our Pemi family.  

One only needs to go back to the essence of why Munger handed his hat to Tom Reed in 1967 to understand the way forward and why this day of competition, heavy in time and effort, is an essential part of helping boys grow and providing this community the opportunity to become stronger and more committed to each other throughout a summer.  This level of preparation is the very essence of “the hat.”  In his Sunday Meeting talk the week before, Donovan shared his experience growing up in South Africa when his country transitioned from Apartheid and looked for national unity through  “ubuntu,” building community by sharing our humanity and commitment.  Donovan reminded the Pemi faithful that Tecumseh Day aims to sharpen our purpose and dedication to each other by embracing a challenge and coming together to solve it.  It is the same reason we hike the Presidentials, canoe the Allagash, tackle a challenging play performance, or go caving with Larry Davis.  These individual and group challenges provide critical opportunities for growth, resiliency, and life-long friendships. 

Each year, our seniors feel the pull of their last Tecumseh Day and, with it, another reminder that their days as boys at summer camp are finite.  Our 15-year-olds met with Donovan to discuss delivering the right message and weight to their leadership of Tecumseh Day preparation, providing a critical role model for our younger campers aged 8 to 15.  How do we maximize our focus without placing unnecessary stress and anxiety about “the day” on our younger campers”?  How do we keep the focus on the process and not the outcome of winning the hat?  What does hard work and “ubuntu” look like in a boy’s camp in the White Mountains?  

With the change in schedule to a four-week second session, Donovan’s careful messaging, and senior buy-in to carry this message forward, the preparation at Pemi felt less frantic and more methodical. There remained a healthy balance of activities and time for the boys to explore all that camp offers while also purposefully preparing for the day of competition.   

The other observation about previous Tecumseh Days was how best to support the teams throughout the long day of competition.  We looked carefully at hydration, well-timed snacks, and better-organized cheering sections at each event.  We looked carefully at how we transitioned between sporting events to ensure the boys could re-engage for the next event.  Over the years, Tecumseh has done a remarkable job cheering in unison and being fully present on the sidelines, often dominating the waterfront at the end of the day.  Pemi prepared cheers, leaders for each age group, and a hydration and snack distribution program to address these issues and ensure each camper could perform to the best of his ability.

Tecumseh Day 2024

The stunning early morning sun pierced the mist on Lower Baker as the bugle marked the start of the day.  With our seniors leading a more systematic approach to the morning and embracing Donovan’s vision for preparation, Pemi felt better prepared for the Tecumseh Day challenge. Counselors ensured each boy went to the dining hall with all their gear for the day’s competition, and Tom Ciglar delivered the ideal breakfast of carbs and protein to sustain the boys through a long morning of competition.  

At Pemi, under spectacular summer conditions, the 10s baseball team ran into an elite pitcher and had no hits over five innings.  Doc Nick’s Wonders did receive outstanding pitching from Dylan King, who delivered four innings of stellar ball while fielding his position flawlessly.  Dylan’s leadership and calm disposition allowed his team to make the plays and keep the game close.  Gold glove defense in the infield from Niam Santiago, Finn Pike, Charlie Moskoff, and Declan McGovern made a series of plays to keep this game close until the final inning when Tecumseh turned a 4-0 lead into a 10-0 victory. However, the score did not reflect the game’s closeness or our team’s dramatic improvement over the week.  Fortunately, the 15s tennis team evened the score with an incredibly clutch performance, winning 3 of 4 tiebreakers to secure a well-deserved 4-3 victory.  Robert Dorros dominated at #1 singles, and the 15s received three unbelievable tie-breaking victories to deliver a much-needed victory.  Florian Henry-Labordere won his singles match after following behind 9-8 in his tiebreaker, reeling off three straight points for the victory!  After Alasdair McDonough won his tiebreaker 10-7, it all came down to Rohin Shah and Nick Vitale’s doubles match. With nearly a hundred spectators hanging onto each point, Shah and Vitale finished Tecumseh with a gutsy 10-8 tie-breaking victory!

During the second morning events at Pemi, the 10s Soccer team held a strong Tecumseh team at bay for the first half of the match, trailing 1-0.  Incredible efforts from brothers Charlie and Jack Moskoff up the middle and tireless work of Niam Santiago, Finn Pike, Declan McGovern, and Andrew Ramich demonstrated gallant efforts for our youngest campers on a warm, humid morning. A deeper Tecumseh team scored two more goals in the second half to win a well-deserved result.   The 15’s Baseball team ran into an equally strong side led by another quality Tecumseh pitcher. Still, stellar pitching performances by Thomas Axel, Evan Bruno, and Luke Young kept the game close. Axel provided his team with commendable leadership all week as he competed and encouraged them until the last out of their well-played 3-1 loss. 

Over at Winnipesaukee, Pemi got off the bus, fired up and ready to go. In the 13s swim meet, the medley relay team of Emmitt Baggish, Sydney Harris, Marcus Vitale, and Enrique Sevillano-Luque secured a statement win and crucial early points and confidence.  The swim meet went back and forth, and the 13s were down by 4 points, with the free relays set to determine the outcome. Usually, Camp Tecumseh has a stable of freestyle swimmers that pull their side ahead in the last race of the meet.  The free relay team of Marcus Vitale, Sevillano-Luque, Pearson, and Trip McNulty dropped the hammer with an impressive 1st place finish, and Tom Mele, Emmitt, Jameson Purdy, and Sam Weber secured a crucial 3rd place finish to give our boys a 32-28 upset victory.  The 11s tennis team also scored a 5-2 victory with single wins from Hudson Eng and Wade Flemming and double victories from Parker Brown and Graham Eising, Connor Pike, and Finn Shapiro.  The 12s soccer fell 5-1 to a well-coached Tecumseh team.  Under challenging circumstances, Patrick McLauhlin’s effort, leadership, and positive competitive spirit in a losing effort were a much-needed model for his age group.

Winning two of three events upon arrival provided the boys with confidence. The 11s kept their momentum going with a dominant 7-2 victory in baseball behind the pitching of Connor Pike and his 14 Ks. Hudson Eng, Chris Castellono, and Chuck Kilcullen delivered crucial hits to push the 11s to an impressive victory before a large crowd from both camps.

The 13s played a spirited soccer game that ended in a 0-0 draw.  Noah Katz played well in goal for Pemi, while the defensive play of Pemi’s back line of Enrique Sevillano Luque, Sam Chapin, Toven Putzel, and Tom Mele limited Tecumseh to a handful of chances.  At midfield, Pemi received excellent work from Sam Weber, River Morgan, Emmitt Baggish, and Zach Pierson to generate quality chances for Camp Pemi.  Nick Sargent came off the bench to provide essential midfield defense to keep Tecumseh’s attack at bay.  The 12’s tennis team dropped their match 5-2; Luca Strugar and Danny Follansbee won their singles matches.  With the morning events completed at both Pemi and Tecumseh, the overall score found Tecumseh leading by a 4-5-1 score, with ten-afternoon events remaining to play.

Afternoon Events

After lunch, our 10s tennis (6-1) and 15s soccer (3-0) lost matches to solid teams.  Mac Casertano and Will Fritts won their doubles match to secure the 10’s lone victory, while Dylan King provided a spirited effort in defeat.  In the 15s soccer match, the score was 0-0 at halftime, and neither team mustered many quality chances.  Alex Baron was man of the match, providing Pemi with an incredible defensive effort.  The first half ended with a 0-0 tie as the midfield of Noah Litmann, Colin Pham, and Alasdair McDonough worked hard to meet the physical challenge of Tecumseh’s athletic team.  In the second half, Tecumseh scored a goal when our defense looked for an off-side call to no avail.   Tecumseh took advantage of their opportunities and defeated Pemi 3-0.   

At Tecumseh, the 13s Tennis team won 6-1, behind singles winners Sam Weber, Graysen Woodbury, and Gray Axel, and doubles teams of Tom Mele and Noah Katz, and Marcus Vitale and River Morgan.  The 11s soccer team dominated with their 3-0 victory. Manolo Sevillano Luque scored the first goal and assisted two more goals for the golden boot of the match. Rhys Newman was on the receiving end of his passes and buried two goals for Pemi while also setting up Monolo.  Defensively, Finn Shapiro, Eddie Horn, and Hudson Eng played flawlessly in front of Pemi keeper Bennett Purdy.  Purdy’s training with Pemi goalie coach Paul Cushing highlighted a great week of preparation for this team.  After losing their soccer and tennis matches, The 12’s baseball team was down 9-1.  Instead of giving up, the boys fought back and delivered an awe-inspiring eight-run, two-out rally to tie the game at 9-9. Eli Brown and Dennis Taft delivered crucial hits for Pemi’s rally.  Unfortunately, Pemi could not hold back Tecumseh and eventually fell 16-9.  With the two wins and three losses over the first five matches after lunch, Pemi was down 8-6-1, with five events to play.

With Pemi needing to win four of the five remaining events, the 10s swim team, led by Charlie and Jack Moskoff, delivered victories in their early events, and our youngest campers gave everything left in the tank.  Highlighting this effort was Andrew Ramich shaving an astonishing eleven seconds off his Individual Medley race time and Declan McGovern dropping two seconds off his freestyle time to highlight the team’s impressive progress throughout the summer. Unfortunately, the Tecumseh’s relay teams were up for the challenge and won a close free relay race for the victory. 

The 15s provided a meet for the ages as the Medley Relay team of Dom Watson, Rohin Shah, Johnny Thibault, and Luke Gonzalez set a new camp record and delivered the win for Pemi. While the 10s and 15s battled throughout the meet, each team received incredible support from the Pemi faithful. With Josh Scarponi securing the center of the beach for the Pemi cheering squad, the home team pushed their boys to extraordinary efforts.  The 15-year-olds, like Carter Glahn, did a remarkable job keeping the ten-year-olds focused and supported throughout the meet when the boys were exhausted.

At Tecumseh, the 13s baseball team, minus their ace pitcher Noah Katz, fell to Tecumseh 8-4, while the 12’s swim team also lost 38-24.  13’s baseball received booming hits from Sidney Harris and Tom Mele and great pitching from Zach Pierson.   In swimming, the 12s swim team received heroic efforts from Henry VanDerzee, Luca Strugar, and Gabri Hutchinson, who finished each race with competitive spirit.  The 11s swim took out their brooms and delivered the sweep with an impressive victory.  Archie Costello, Connor Pike, Michael Vitale, Parker Brown, Brandon Lyu, and Julien Blaustein anchored a dominant performance.  Pemi’s community commitment to these final races, cheering, chanting, and encouraging the boys forward, was one of the day’s highlights and helped our boys dig deep and give their best efforts.

The final 11-8-1 score highlighted the closeness of the day, the hard work Pemi delivered in preparation, and the incredible leadership of our seniors.  Congratulations to Donovan and Andy for providing outstanding leadership for coaches and players; the pathway to a successful day is now clearly defined.  We look forward to once again embracing the systematic preparation and support of our teams and the positive, intentional community support throughout the day to help us achieve the most crucial goal for Tecumseh Day….to build a more unified community while developing life lessons and enduring friendships through hard work and perseverance. 

While the final score was 11-8-1 Tecumseh, it was clear that Camp Pemi had embraced the day’s challenge and become a closer, more unified community—Donovan’s Ubuntu! As the buses pulled into Camp, our seniors led the community in expressing their gratitude and pride for their efforts. The following day, boys signed up for the Mahoosucs, Katahdin, and other incredible hikes, providing more opportunities to grow as people and as a community.