Afternoon Program
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- Adventure
- Arcade
- Archery
- Dance
- Fishing
- Fix It
- Mountain Biking
- Paddlesports
- Power Boating
- Putt-Putt
- Skeet Shooting
- Strength and Conditioning
- Team Roping
- Tennis
- Trail Carts
- Trampolines
- Big Mable
- Blob
- Buckin' Bull
- Climbing and Rappelling
- Iceberg
- Inflatable Obstacle Course
- Sky Ryder & Canopy Tour
- Wet Willie Water Slide
- League Games
- Wet & Wild
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Want a little adventure in your life?
How about a lot of adventure in your life?! Then grab your gear and sign up for Camp Mac’s Adventure Elective! 8th grade boys and girls spend each afternoon doing a variety of our most fun and exciting activities – like the Sky Ryder, Rappelling, Airsoft Wars, Zip Line “Balls of Glory”, Ultimate Kayaking and the Mental Adventure! Taking Adventure might not make you the next Indiana Jones, but you’ll for sure be able to keep up with his cousin, Alabama Jones!
Arcade
Air Hockey, Skee Ball, Pac-Man, Tetris and Frogger! You’ll find those classic coin-op games and more in the Camp Mac Arcade! But leave your money and your credit cards at home. The machines are set on Free Play – they don’t take coins and they don’t take American Express!
Archery
Camp Mac offers an advancement program to campers of all ages. Starting at 15 yards and going all the way to 50 yards, it takes a lot of practice to become an American Archer…but kids learn fast, and they take home awards and diplomas to prove it! Do you think Robin Hood ever brought home a diploma to his mama?!
Dance
Girls just wanna have fun! And what’s more fun than learning a dance routine with your friends, getting everybody up on the stage, and showing off your moves to the whole camp on Talent Night?! You'll work on your air kick and show off your head toss! At Dance, you're not dancing with the stars - you are the star!
Fishing
We’ll grab our fishing poles, bait our hooks, hold our mouths just right, and get ready for the Big One to bite! And if we don’t catch a big enough string off the Fishing Pier, we’ll load up into the pontoon boat and head out to the honey hole on the other side of the lake!
Fix It
When something breaks around the house, somebody has to fix it.
And things usually break faster than we can get them fixed! At camp we’ve realized we have 300 people who can break things and only about a half dozen who can fix them!
Your house might be a lot like that – a dead battery on a car, a bad light switch, a leaky drain under the sink, a flat tire, a hole in the sheetrock, a mower that won’t start running or a faucet that won’t stop running – these kinds of things happen to all of us all the time.
What’s a guy (or gal) gonna do!?
Sign up for FxIt!!
You’ll learn how to repair some of the things above – and maybe some other things, too! You can build your skills – and even build a toolbox!
Anyone can break things. But if you take FxIt, you’ll fix stuff and know things!
Mountain Biking
Mountain Biking is one of the most popular outdoor activities in the country — and there are few better places to ride a mountain bike than right here in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains!
Each summer 7th, 8th, and 9th grade boys and girls improve their skills as they experience the thrills of riding the hills here “Among the Pines”!
Using Camp Mac’s well-maintained mountain bikes, campers learn to do safety checks and routine maintenance — as well as how to safely enjoy this exciting sport!
Paddlesports
Can you canoe? You can if you’ve taken Paddlesports at Camp Mac! In addition to canoes, we have kayaks and we have paddleboards! (Did you know “Camp Mac Kayak” spelled backwards is “Kayak Camp Mac”?!) Campers learn safety and fundamentals, and enjoy relays, bucket-dipping races, and a trip to Lower Lake Falls! Plus, we’ll do a little waterbiking – and add a pedalsport to the paddlesports!
Power Boating
Tired of paddling? Then sign up for Camp Mac’s Power Boating Elective! Available to boys and girls in the 7th and 8th grades, the Alabama Marine Police "Boating Basics" course is conducted in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Successful completion of this course is required by law in Alabama to obtain a license to operate a powerboat on public waters. In addition to becoming familiar with the “Rules of the Road”, each young skipper learns to safely handle his or her own boat. Official certificates are awarded to those campers who successfully pass the written and practical tests.
Advanced Power Boating emphasizes boating skills and safety. Campers in this elective also learn ski signals and how to pull a skier. This course is available to 8th graders who have passed the basic course.
Putt-Putt
Meet your friends at the Camp Mac Country Club for a round of golf – Putt-Putt Golf, that is! We’ll have Hole-in-One Contests, the Green and White Tourney, and the Horseshoe Tournament! Then we’ll end the week with the Camp Mac Masters for the coveted Green T-Shirt! See you at the Clubhouse!
Skeet Shooting
8th grade boys and girls learn the fundamentals of Skeet Shooting and Shotgun Safety. Campers learn how to safely handle and fire shotguns at the clay targets flying out of the radio-controlled throwers at the Skeet Range!
We’ll have practice rounds and we’ll have tournaments – and at the end of the week the Championship and the braggin’ rights will go to the camper who busts the most clays!
Strength and Conditioning
Many of our campers participate in sports at home. Although each sport requires different skills, they all demand speed, quickness and strength – especially explosive strength for jumping and running. And by learning proper stretching and flexibility techniques, many sports injuries can be avoided.
Working with high school and college coaches and sports medicine experts, Camp Mac has developed a Strength and Conditioning program that improves our older campers’ natural abilities via cross-training — a combination of running, strength work, stretching and plyometrics (explosiveness training) – each day of the term.
Camp Mac’s Strength and Conditioning program is guaranteed to turn the aspiring athlete into a perspiring athlete!
Team Roping
Have you ever roped a cow? No? Then you haven’t taken Team Roping at Camp Mac! We start by learning how to coil the rope, build a loop, and throw the rope on foot. Next, we learn how to rope a dummy from the back of a barrel. Then it’s time to mount up and rope Sparky – the mechanical roping steer! Some people have trouble patting their head and rubbing their stomach – that’s nothing compared to riding a horse, chasing a cow, spinning a loop, and catching a steer! But if it was easy, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun!
Tennis and summertime are a perfect “match”
and what better place to work on your tennis game than Camp Mac?! With three regulation Plexi-Pave courts and a ball machine to throw balls for you, we can’t think of a better place to work on your tennis game than Camp Mac!
We have plenty of room to practice, and Instructors standing by to help you dial in your serve, crank up your forehand, and master that two-fisted backhand! Our “passing off” advancement program offers ratings and awards from Beginner to Advanced and Camp Mac tennis tournaments provide all the competition and excitement you could hope for!
Trail Carts
8th grade campers first learn how to conduct safety checks and perform basic maintenance on our Polaris Trail Carts.
Then, after practicing in the arena and demonstrating their driving skills, the intrepid drivers hit the trails and explore the backcountry on a network of mountain trails surrounded by the Talladega National Forest!
Trampolines
Start out with the basics – Seat Drops, Knee Drops, Back Drops. Move up into Combinations, Swivel Hips and Turntables. Then it’s time for Rolls, Flips and some Mirror Combinations. But you can’t pass off Expert Trampoline until you master the infamous Cody Routine!
Big Mable
Imagine this: you're hanging on for dear life with your best buds, screaming with laughter as you bounce and fly across the lake. No, you're not superheroes defying gravity – you're riding Big Mable, Camp Mac’s legendary inflatable monster tube!
Big Mable is like a giant, bouncy, floating, flying Lazy Boy that gets whipped across the water by a super-fast boat! Hold on tight as you twist, turn, and bounce over the waves, feeling the wind whip through your hair and the spray tickle your face. It's a wild ride that'll have you and your friends shrieking with laughter and begging for more!
More than just a thrill ride, Big Mable is another Camp Mac highlight that brings everyone together! You'll high-five your BFFs after surviving a particularly gnarly wave, share smiles and cheers after a smooth arrival at the ski dock, and maybe even swap funny faces when you get splashed! It's the perfect mix of excitement, thrills, and laughter that make camp memories truly unforgettable.
So, are you ready to ditch those boring pool floats and conquer the mighty Big Mable? Get ready for an epic adventure that'll have you grinning from ear to ear and leave you wanting more! Just remember to hold on tight – Big Mable don't leave nothin’ on the table!
Blob
You jump off the platform and you hit that big pillow and you sink in and that’s fun, but then you crawl out to the end and sit there and wait…. Your buddy jumps off the platform, onto the Blob, and BOOM! The air pressure catapults you up in the air and into the water! After that, you can fly through the air on the rope swing – just like the ones Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn used on the creek bank! But Tom and Huck probably couldn’t do a flip off the end of the rope – can you?!
Buckin' Bull
Just like in the rodeo, climb on, give the nod, and say “Let’s go, boys!” 8 seconds seems like forever when you're on the back of a bull!
Climbing and Rappelling
Climbing and rappelling are not just exciting activities – they’re true confidence builders! Thinking you can do something scary or difficult is really just a thought – working hard and actually doing something scary or difficult stays with you the rest of your life.
8th grade boys and girls begin to realize what they are capable of when they face their apprehensions and “learn the ropes”!
The instruction begins on our 20-foot and 40-foot walls where campers learn basic rappelling and climbing techniques. At the end of the term, those campers with the skill and the desire go on a field trip to Alabama’s highest peak, Cheaha Mountain, where they rappel down a 100-foot tall granite cliff!
Iceberg
The Iceberg is 14 feet tall and floats in the middle of the lake. Three sides are for climbing up – and one side is for sliding down! Global warming is a good thing for this Iceberg! And while your friends are climbing up and sliding down, you can swim over and ride the ring around the Saturn!
Inflatable Obstacle Course
Have you ever dreamed of being a pirate conquering a ship's rigging, a monkey swinging through the jungle, or maybe even an action hero leaping from platform to platform? Well, at Camp Mac's waterfront obstacle course, you can be all of those things and more!
Picture this: a giant floating playground right on the lake, with challenges like walking the plank, leaping across the hurdles and beating your bestie through the twisty! You’ll balance on floating platforms that feel like stepping stones across crocodile-infested waters! (Don't worry, there aren’t really crocodiles. Crocodiles live in Australia. Only alligators live in the US)
As you scramble, splash, and laugh your way through the course, you'll be putting your agility, balance, and speed to the test. But don't worry, you won't be going it alone. There will be awesome counselors there to cheer you on and help you out if you get stuck!
By the end of the day, you'll be more confident, more resilient (and definitely more soaked) than when you started! And you'll have memories of your aquatic adventure at Camp Mac that will last a lifetime! So grab your swimsuit and get ready to make a splash!
Sky Ryder & Canopy Tour
The Sky Ryder is not just a zip line, it’s two zip lines – over 1,000 feet combined length! You’ll strap yourself in your harness and clip on to the cable on the platform at the Campfire area and head down the hill through the trees to the lake! As you pick up speed you’ll leave the woods and burst into the open air above the lake - a hundred feet up, flying through the sky, looking down at your friends on the Iceberg and the Blob!
As you sail over the lake, you look ahead and see the trees on the other shore are fast approaching, and you wonder if you’ll fit through the green tunnel of leaves ahead. You almost want to close your eyes and brace for impact – but as you soar gracefully through the canopy and onto the landing platform, you realize there’s no need to. You made it!
So, you’re good. You got this! You stride confidently up the hill and in front of you, you see the Camp Mac Canopy Tour! Whoa! It’s as tall as the tallest trees and as long as the wait for camp to start!
You clip in and you walk onto the platform wrapped around a tree about 8 feet in the air. When you get to the edge, you see the wobbly cable bridge with a whole bunch of narrow steps a really long way apart. You tell your heart to slow down, and you start your journey. Every few feet away from the platform puts you a lot more feet off the ground! When you finally reach the second tree, you’re 75 feet up in the air and the platform feels the size of a Chick-fil-A mini!
You look down below the next bridge and you’re so high up the creek below looks like the trickle from a leaky faucet! The steps on the next bridge are even further apart, so you make yourself look ahead and not down. You’re surrounded by trees and leaves and now you know how the squirrels feel when they move branch to branch through their highways in the sky!
You finally make it to the next tree, and you realize you’re a hundred feet up in the air on the side of a giant pine standing on a platform half the size of the last one! And now there’s nowhere to go but down!
Luckily, the way down is a zip line! So, you clip in your trolley and leap off into the air! As you ride gracefully back to earth, now you know what they mean when they say pigeons flock together – but eagles like you soar alone!
No time to relax, though! It’s time to walk over and get strapped in and catch the next zip line across the lake back to camp – and take all the fun and excitement and confidence with you in those memories you’ll have forever!
Wet Willie Water Slide
Buckle up your lifejacket and get ready for the slide of your life! Start out at the top of the hill and begin the 165 foot ride down the ginormous Wet Willie Waterslide! When you hit the jump in the middle, you’ll go airborne and fly into the bottom section of the slide! By the time you can catch your breath you’ll be flying again – right into Lower Lake! After that, if you’re up to it, you can head across the Rope Bridge, take a ride down the Zip Line, and drop off into the water!
League Games
League games bring the fun and excitement of team competition to camp! Players are drafted, schedules are posted, and the league teams play each other in sports such as Volleyball, Softball, Newcomb, Soccer, Bombardment, Ultimate Frisbee, and Kickball!
The winners in the Senior Terms will celebrate at the Camp Director’s home with a “charcoal-steak” dinner, and the Junior Term winners will enjoy a scrumptious ice cream party!
League Games are about competing. We keep score. We have winners and losers every day. And every night the winners and the losers sit down and eat supper together. Because, mainly, League games are about playing.
When asked his advice for young athletes, Michael Jordan replied, "Just play, have fun! Enjoy the game." That's exactly what our campers have been doing in League Games since 1948.
Wet & Wild
Campers who have completed the 5th grade can sign up for the Wet ‘n Wild elective at the Camp Mac Waterpark! We’ll test our skills on the floating Obstacle Course, spin on the Saturns, fall off the Rolling Log and get launched off the famous Blob and splash down in the lake! We’ll climb up the back of a giant 15-foot tall iceberg and slide down the other side! Walk on water with the help of the Magic Carpet – and slide 165 feet down the ginormous Wet Willie Waterslide!