Kids get kicks at Camp CoHoLo

Gray skies and an intermittent drizzle didn’t dampen spirits Monday afternoon at Camp CoHoLo, when members of the Creighton men’s soccer team led campers through a series of games and soccer drills.

About 80 campers ages 6 to 11 are attending the four-day camp for children with blood disorders and cancer at the Eastern Nebraska, said camp coordinator Anisa Hoie.

Molly Lambert displayed superior heading skills, causing the Creighton coaches to call a halt to drills so she could display her formidable forehead for the crowd, head-passing the ball back and forth with a Creighton player.

Lambert, 11, of Chambers, said she was taking gymnastics, which might have contributed to her soccer flair.

Molly, who has battled leukemia, said she was enjoying everything about the camp and had made friends there.

“I like the water slide,” she said.

Molly, who has been coming to the camp since she was six, is off therapy, Hoie said.

“For some of these kids, they may have been diagnosed when they were infants and have been off treatment for years,” said Hoie, who is also an oncology nurse at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center. “For others, they maybe were diagnosed two months ago.”

When children in different stages of treatment get together, Hoie said, the children who are off treatment provide inspiration for children starting treatment.

Rob Lacy was a camper in 2002, when he was fighting off acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Monday, he was on hand for his fifth year as a camp counselor.

“(The value of) the camp is two-fold,” Lacy said. “One, it gets the kids out to have a lot of fun. A lot of these kids don’t get to have fun on a regular basis. They’re constantly in and out of the hospital. . . . This lets them do activities, they get to see each other, have friends who are in the same position as them.

“The other opportunity is for the families to kind of have some down time, spend time with their other children, if they have them. It allows them to regroup and relax a little bit.”

Creighton assistant coach Johnny Torres came to camp the first time in 1994 as a player. Monday, he was laughing along with the campers as he demonstrated a passing drill.

“Any time you’re an athlete, you get put on a pedestal, I think it’s your responsibility to go out and give back to the community,” he said. “Obviously, it’s very important and something that we stress at Creighton.

“To be able to put a smile on the kids’ faces is very rewarding.”

Hoie said the focus at camp is not on disease.

“Our purpose is not to talk about cancer or their blood disorder, to help them with their treatment in that sense,” Hoie said. “Our sole purpose is to provide a camp for kids who otherwise may not have the opportunity to go to camp.”

Camp CoHoLo was founded in 1985, Hoie said. (CoHoLo stands for “Courage, Hope, Love.”) A second session for campers ages 12 to 17 begins Wednesday afternoon.

For more information on Camp CoHoLo, go to http://www.campcoholo.com/index.htm.