The Houghs: Pom Camp '26

Hey kids.

The state of Abby's packing where, according to her, she's 'finished.'

Abby, as you know, was bumped up to the Varsity Pom Team at Midland High last year (one of a small handful that was poached from the JV team at the end of her freshman year), and has been leaning hard into her pom stuff this last year even more than she used to. For the last few years, she's been attending the annual Pom Camps every July at Northwood University, staying in the Dubois dormitory alongside her teammates and various pom teams throughout the region, and spending her days drilling new pom routines, conditioning, and taking part in team-building activities that strengthen the varsity squad.

My attempt at getting a pic of Abby after she was set up in her dorm room.

This year's camp ran from Tuesday to Friday, and so with Kris at work the first day of the camp, Yours Truly dropped her off at the dorms and got her situated in her room. Then, each evening around 6:30pm, us parents would return to Northwood in order to watch Midland High - along with all of the other schools participating at the camp - perform the exact, same routine for judges to review (the varsity teams performed a certain routine, and then the middle school and JV teams performed a different one.)

Abby roomed with Brooklyn this year, and this is their door.

Is it repetitive (and super boring) watching twelve different teams perform an identical routine to the same song? Absolutely. But as parents that's the sorta thing you signed up for when you decided to have kids - it's not like we're not going to watch our kid perform at a school function, c'mon.

So we had four evenings full of pom routines this week, and Abby (and all the other kids there) wore themselves out drilling day in and day out. I don't know how the hell they do it, practicing and performing from breakfast until the time they go to bed each night, then getting six hours of sleep and repeating the process all over again. But hell, whatever floats their boat, I guess - all the kids involved with this sport seem to love it.

I took like 99% of the pics and video clips below straight off Abby's phone, so I don't know the details with most of it, but I did my best to arrange them all in chronological order and give them some context for you. About the same as the last two years she's done this whole Pom Camp thing, we're just gonna take a stab at how her week looked sifting though the dozens of pics she took of her and her teammates throughout the week. I'm sure she could do a much better job at explaining all of this to you folks, but, like I've said before, I'm the only one who contributes to this blog anymore so you're stuck with my two cents here.

Enjoy. . .

Midland Varsity Pom, on Day 1 of Pom Camp - ready to get to work at practice.

The team's mascot (or pet, not sure what the culture here is), watching the team practice their High Kicks.

That chick in the black is the designated 'trainer' or 'staff member' from the camp (usually a recently-graduated varsity pommer from another school who works for the camp program), teaching the team the day's assigned routine at practice.

Each day the teams receive a new routine and they have to drill it all damn day, then perform it for the judges (and whatever families members show up) in the evening. Abby's second from left in this one.

Team huddle (or something.)

A pic of team, somewhere on campus (the seniors get to wear a sash throughout the week, I guess.)

We had to buy multiple 'spirit day' shirts for Abby, as we do every year when she attends this camp, which was not included in the camp's ridiculous registration fees.

I don't have the patience to be a pom coach, I'd straight up murder some teenage girls over something like this.

At practice on Day 2 (I think.) Not sure what's up with this pedophile flag, here.

This must be Northwoods' indoor football or soccer complex (I didn't know they had one.)

The trainer leads the kids through a new routine.

Summoning dark spirits from the abysmal plains to aid them in their evening performance.

Midland High, performing their new routine for the judges and families.

Logan showed up on Day 2 and brought Abby flowers, so Abby asked if I'd take them home for her and put them in a vase of water so they wouldn't die in her dorm room. So I obviously looked pretty cool just standing around bored, holding flowers.

Logan and Abby, following the conclusion of the evening's routines.

These two are a couple of dorks.

No idea.

Abby, Nica, and Brooklyn, showing off their new pom camp sweatshirts (we paid $50 for hers, in case you were curious - she'll wear it twice, spill coffee on it, and never wear it again.)

This generation's new obsession with shitty point-and-shoot cameras is weird.

Another team huddle, I'm guessing on Day 3.

Or maybe Day 4, I don't know - they wear the same uniform for every evening performance.

(Abby is in the back row, on the left.)

Practicing the kick line again.

Day 4 Pom Routine

The bleachers they have here are absolute murder on one's back, so Erik and I got into the habit of bringing camping chairs and sitting off to the side. He wasn't able to show up on the last day of the camp (because they held the final performance at noon, right before pick-up at the end of camp), so I sat off to the side of the bleachers by myself. Kris or Alayna took this pic of me sleeping during one of the other team's routines. Sue me, this shit gets super boring when it's not your own kid's team on the stage.

Following the end of the performances, there was about an hour's lull where kids just ambled around the gym, taking pics with one another and dancing along to music that was blasting over the gym's PA system. We had to kill some time before they announced this year's All-Star Pom Team for the state (Abby once again tried out for the team this year, which should be nice and expensive for us), so we had to sit around and wait for the results. In the meantime, while we sat around bored, Abby went around getting pics with all of her friends and teammates (like Brooklyn here.)

With Nica.

Of course with her best friend, Ella.

Abby and Ella do their custom 'handshake,' which they've had since they were like 10 years old.

A pic with Emma.

One with her coaches.

I don't know who this is, I forget her name.

Not sure who this is, either - but she's been on the team with Abby for years.

Abby, Ella and Harper recreate their old Northeast Middle School Pom pose.

I'm not familiar with this pose, must be some new viral thing all the kids are doing these days on social media.

The frickin' scuba thing.

The dreaded Six-Seven.

Abby and some old chick, holding up participation ribbons (I think.)

Dancing along to 'Macarena.'

After an hour, they announced the All Star Pom Team, and the girls here from Midland's High's team - including Abby and Ella - qualified this year. So now the Johnsons get to spend Thanksgiving down in Detroit with us this year, and drop an arm and a leg on that whole shit-show.

Abby poses with their team's designated staff trainer after Midland High took the Grand Prize for this year's Pom Camp (they were deemed the best pom team at the camp for the second year in a row, which Abby was super excited about.)