I have actually checked in about this camp and it is legit. Would love to see something like it around here.
http://www.thewrestlingmall.com/htmls/news.asp?Cat=3&View=11400 I wonder how many forum posters could complete something like this?
The Eternal Warrior 15-Day Intensive Wrestling Camp: The Toughest Camp in America
6/9/2005 10:16:00 AM
WE DON'T LIFT WEIGHTS...
we lift logs, chop wood, and saw down trees
WE DON'T RUN STAIRS...
we scale mountains, race through forests, and swim across Montana's lakes
WE DON'T NEED IDLE TIME...
we pray, we reflect, we praise, and we study the Scriptures
WE DON'T SLEEP IN...
we start at 6:00 a.m. and we don't finish until 11:00 p.m.
WE ARE ETERNAL WARRIORS
ARE YOU?
By Matt Krumrie – Senior Editor
Please send comments, questions or replies to: info@thewrestlingmall.com
The Army used to brag that they do more before 6 a.m. than most people do all day. That was before the Eternal Warrior Wrestling Camp was formed.
Those who attend the Eternal Warrior 15-Day Intensive Wrestling Camp do more in two weeks than most wrestlers do in an entire offseason.
Each day features over six hours of competitive wrestling and instruction, but in reality, that’s only a small part of what is arguably the toughest 15-day camp in the country. A typical day at the Eternal Warrior Wrestling Camps begins before 6 a.m., and doesn’t stop until 11 p.m. No breaks, no leisure time, no naps.
“This camp challenges young men in all aspects of life,” says Camp Director Sam Calavitta, a former assistant coach at Calvary Chapel High School in California. “It challenges them physically, mentally and spiritually. You won’t find a tougher camp anywhere. This was verified by Army Rangers who saw what we did and said they didn’t even train that hard. It’s unimaginable training for 15 hours a day. That’s why we call it the toughest camp in America.”
The 2005 Eternal Warrior Wrestling Camp takes place July 6-20 in Trego, Montana, in a scenic, wooded area 15 miles south of the Canadian border. The camp is limited to 60 participants, and scholarships are available to help cover the $800 camp fee.
The camp consists of a who’s who list of wrestling personalities working as coaches, counselors, and support staff (see complete list below). While many camps will push you to bend but not break, Calavitta says this camp is so tough that it’s almost a guarantee that the wrestler will break. But that’s the goal. Making it tougher is that campers are not allowed to use cell phones, have no access to TVs or radios/headphones, and are allowed only one phone call the entire camp. That phone call Calavitta says, usually is made to home, usually by someone struggling to get through those first few days, looking for support.
“We explain to the parents very clearly up front that they’re probably going to get a phone call from their son,” says Calavitta. “Their bodies are going to hurt. Their minds will hurt. But if they hang in there, and make it past that sixth or seventh day, they are going to make it. So many parents have called or wrote to us after the camp asking us what we did. They say their son is polite, courteous, respectful. It’s quite a change.”
The physical aspect of the camp is like no other. Campers will learn technique, work on their skills, and learn how to train to be the best wrestler they can be. But the thing that makes the Eternal Warrior Wrestling Camp unique is the training outside of the wrestling room. They chop cords of wood while weighted down, they bale hay, they do hard work, but it’s for a purpose. Calavitta has set it up so the campers are doing work that benefits members of the community.
“We want to teach these young men the importance of giving back, helping your neighbors, and we teach that through hard work,” says Calavitta. “It’s hard, it’s physical, but when it’s all said and done, we bring in a huge workforce to the community that everyone benefits from.”
Campers also participate in pull-up contests, they have wrestle-offs in creeks, they scale through trails on an 8,000-foot mountain - then they get on a bus and come back and wrestle, and then they study the spiritual aspect of wrestling and life.
“We’re not only training them to be state champs, but champions in life,” says Calavitta. “They’re learning to give back to the community. Character is stressed. There’s no profanity allowed. We’re trying to teach the whole package, to break these young men down physically and mentally, then build them back up spiritually, and to improve their physical and mental toughness.”
While the camp is based around Christian principles and values, Calavitta says even those who were skeptical about that aspect of the camp find it rewarding. Many campers build relationships with camp counselors that go beyond the 15 days at the camp.
“Our counselors have won medals, they’ve been successful on the collegiate and international level,” says Calavitta. “But they also are successful in life. We stay in contact year round and have dealt with campers trying to overcome broken necks to broken relationships. We want these kids to understand that while wrestling is fantastic, it’s only one aspect of their life. They need to become complete men. It’s pretty neat when our guys can pick up the phone and call a Jeff Prescott or Mark Munoz, or shoot an email to Casey Cunningham.”
In order to complete the camp participants must complete a three-part triathlon in six hours. That includes swimming one mile in what can be 50 degree water, running 15.5 miles through the middle of the Rocky Mountains, and finishing running three miles to the bottom of the mountain carrying a log on their shoulders.
“When these guys make it through camp, they realize they’ve probably done one of the most physically, mentally and spiritually demanding things in their lives,” says Calavitta. "We go, non-stop – no TV’s, no radios, no naps, nothing in-between. We rely on each other and the love of Jesus Christ. We pull through this together. We break down and build back up. When these kids leave camp they are often crying in each other’s arms, they leave with a tremendous camaraderie, a tremendous love for each other.”
A t-shirt is given to those who complete the camp. That t-shirt, Calavitta says, commands instant respect.
“I remember some of the campers competing in Reno, wearing those shirts,” says Calavitta. “I could see guys talking about it, I could see that they knew how tough it was, and how much respect their peers had for them for completing the camp. That makes them feel good, feel proud.”
They also feel like a warrior – an eternal warrior.
“What they learn here will stay with them the rest of their lives,” says Calavitta.
2005 Eternal Warrior Wrestling Camp Staff
Danny Henderson: 1992 & 1996 Olympian
Heath Sims: 2000 Olympian
Casey Cunningham: 2nd World Trials, NCAA Champ
Ramico Blackmon: US National Freestyle Champion
Mark Munoz: NCAA Champion, US All-American
Shane Valdez: 3xNCAA All-American, 3rd US Open
Jeff Prescott: 2 x NCAA Champion, 2nd Pan Am Games
Ty Wilcox: 2x Big Twelve Champion
Joe Calavitta: US Open All-American
Riley Ross: NCAA division II All-American
Mark Dean: United States Marine Corps
Joe Williams: 2x California State Champion, Mich. State
Tony Wright: Wisconsin Div III All-American
Jeremiah Jarvis: Assistant Coach UC Davis
Other Staff Members May Include:
John Azevedo: 1980 Olympian, Head Coach Cal Poly.
Josh Holiday: Big 10 Champion
Dane Valdez: NCAA All-American
Eternal Warrior Wrestling Camps is part of Cal’s Camps, Inc. an organization dedicated to creating world class wrestlers as well as world class human beings. For more information on Eternal Warrior Wrestling Camps clink on the link above, call 714-970-8659 or email calscamps@sbcglobal.net.
