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Pond Championships are Camp Reunion for Plum Skaters

By Greg Bates - Special to USAHockey.org, 09/17/15, 3:00PM MDT

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Several team members met at summer camp years ago in Sayner, Wis., a short drive from Eagle River

Growing up, the Davis brothers spent their summers at Camp Highlands for Boys in Sayner, Wis.

The guys, who were from St. Louis, enjoyed their experiences as campers and later as counselors and developed numerous lifelong friendships.

These days, the Davis brothers head back up to northern Wisconsin every winter to compete in the Labatt Blue/USA Hockey Pond Hockey Championships in Eagle River, which is 20 miles from Camp Highlands on Plum Lake. The brothers, who started going to camp about 30 years ago, also bring along some of their old camp buddies. In 2015, their crew made up two teams: Plum Skaters 1 and 2.

“We all actually used to water ski together at the club over there, which is called the Plum Ski-ters,” Plum Skaters hockey team member Brad Davis said. “Now we’ve got a bunch of the Camp Highlands guys coming up. This is their first year and we all sort of gathered. Between the two teams, we must have about 15 Camp Highlands guys part of this hockey tournament. It’s kind of cool to mix the two worlds.”

The original Plum Skaters started competing in the Pond Hockey Championships eight seasons ago. For 2016, the group will add a second team.

It all transpired sort of by accident.

Since divisions for the Pond Hockey Championships fill up so quickly every year, two Plum Skaters teammates were trying to register the team at the same time when registration opened this year.

“They didn’t know they were both doing it, so they both registered us,” Plum Skaters 1’s Bryan Davis said. “Larry accidently registered us for bronze, and we’re silver. It turns out, these guys we used to teach at camp with and go to camp with, we were talking to them. They said, ‘Oh, you play in that pond hockey tournament? We’d love to do that.’”

Just like that, a new team was made for the Bronze division. And hopefully a new tradition and annual reunion of heading back up to the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

“Some of them I haven’t seen in 20 years, probably,” said Bryan Davis, who travels from New York City every year for pond hockey. “They are all younger, so they were campers when I was a counselor. I don’t think we ever worked together. It’s awesome.”

Brad Davis, who is two years younger than Bryan, loves the fact some of the younger campers have the opportunity to experience the pond hockey atmosphere.

“Getting together here for pond hockey in itself is a worthwhile thing,” Brad Davis said. “To see them embrace it and having a lot of fun discovering it shines a light on the whole event.”

The Davis brothers have played on the same Plum Skaters team together at pond hockey for eight years. Bryan entered the tournament a year earlier and played on a different team in which he knew just one person.

This past year, Plum Skaters 1, which competed in the Silver 30+ Division even though all the players are in their 40s, had just three of its original members make the trip to Eagle River. The Davis’ younger brother Aaron and another player had conflicts. A third teammate’s wife had to have surgery and he had to stay close to home.

The Plum Skaters have had success in the past at the Pond Hockey Championships.

“Sometimes we’re good, sometimes we’re not so good,” Bryan Davis said. “We advanced to the playoffs last year and a couple years ago, and this year we just got kind of tarred and feathered.”

The team finished 0-3 and was outscored 40-16. The Davis’ believe next year will be better as another reunion will ensue on the pond.

“If everybody doesn’t come back, there’s going to be a real problem,” Bryan Davis said. “Emergencies are fine, but work commitments, you’ve got to clear the calendar. ... Next year, we get the band back together.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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