WARNING:  EXTREME EXCITEMENT DIRECTLY AHEAD!!!

 Approximately 280 young men, ages 12-17 from 36 different U.S. states and 8 foreign countries, have stepped up to the Marine Military Academy (MMA) challenge at this year’s MMA Summer/ESL Camp 2006.  Here every young man soon discovers what really counts is not just how many hours you put in each day, but what you put into each hour in a day!

 MMA’s 4-week summer camp is EXTREME EXCITEMENT, and if these young men aren’t careful they will learn a thing or two. Here they’ve joined campers from all over the globe—from Hawaii to Nigeria, Hong Kong, Columbia and back again—to experience first hand how important it is to participate in team sports.  They’ll learn how to build interpersonal relationships based upon mutual respect and trust, and how important these relationships are--whether they apply these skills in sports or to any other areas of their life.

 MMA Campers participate every day in new activities designed to turn an ordinary summer into an extraordinary adventure they’ll remember for the rest of their life. The Iron Man combines sizzling team competition requiring campers to negotiate eight to ten physical obstacles including a mud course, paint ball competition, obstacle course, fireman’s carry, rifle range, and many other individual events strategically located throughout Campus.

 The sky’s the limit as campers learn how to climb the tower, rappel, travel at the speed of birds in flight down the zip line, navigate a full-sized Marine Corps obstacle course, step up to the challenge on the Leadership Reaction Course, and show their stuff on the pugil stick pit--all part of the Leadership Enhancement And Development (LEAD) Complex.  They’ll learn how to develop self confidence, maximize physical endurance and mental sharpness, while plunging ‘knee-deep’ into intense leadership learning experiences that emphasize fast decision-making, enhance team-based problem solving capabilities, and strengthen rapid and focused leadership techniques. The Challenging Opportunities for Personal Experience (COPE) course guides them through a series of team problem solving obstacles designed to increase their sense of personal confidence, increase mutual support within their group, and assists them in developing an increased level of agility and physical coordination.

 Each camper will become part of the MMA legacy at boxing smokers supervised by certified and licensed boxing instructors--a summer tradition at MMA. Wait, the fun doesn’t stop there!  There’s the Paint Ball Course, an additional Confidence Course, a Mud Infiltration Course, a judo gym, not to mention inter-unit athletic competition involving flag football, soccer, softball, dodge ball, volleyball, swimming, circuit course training and basketball...and what would a summer be without an afternoon of movies and ice cream?

 Stay tuned to MMA’s “What’s New” (http://www.mma-tx.org/Whatsnew.htm) as these young men climb their way to the top and take command of their life...at Marine Military Academy’s Summer Camp 2006...July 2nd through 29^th!