Julia Castro has just finished putting on her first ‘Kidz Kite Camp’, which when we learned about we knew that we wanted to find out more. So we got in touch directly with Julia yesterday and she had a day off and managed to write about her experiences for us.
A must read for any with or planning to have kids and want to get them into kiting.
How did this all come to be?
I was in Brasil and started to think about what I could to give something back. I had realised that I love to compete but this is not the thing that really makes me 100% happy. I realised that giving back to people, making them happy, motivating them to do things in their lives.
After thinking for a while the light bulb above my head was there. There is a club of kids on my island that are kiting or learning to kite and they’re all my super fans… What better than to share what I know with local kids that think of me as their pro.
Who helped you organise it all?
I did everything alone in the beginning… Sponsors, place to sleep, food… So many things to organize! OMG!
Then Roberta, the instructor of the Kite Club (Hijos del Mar Fuerteventura) helped me with the parents, the names of the kids, etc. She’s the bomb!
How did you feel before the event?
I was super, super, super stressed, making a lot of phone calls, sending a lot of emails, visiting hotels, shops… Sleeping late (I have to study, train in the gym, kite, eat and spend time with my family too).
It was the first time I was organising something like this so I had no idea of how to do it… and that made me feel even more stressed.
It was completely amazing. I really liked the kids (I am from a big family, 5 siblings: 5, 7, 16, 18 years old and me) so it was like my family but adding 11 more kids.
I was a little bit tricked though because when I spoke to Roberta she told me that we had no more than 10 kids …yet I ended up on the beach with 16 kids and not many of them knowing how to kite properly… So the first beach day I felt a bit like: “OMG, too many kids, where do I start”. But we made groups with the other teachers and everything went perfectly.
During I felt like was in the middle of playing a game. My objective was to keep everything in balance and moving… I had no time to relax and when the day was over I was already thinking about everything for the next day. Some kids learned how to kite that day, others took a kite in their hands for first time… We played games at the beach…
The last day we woke up and everything was grey and rainy… luckily I had a plan B for this, SUP day! The kids were like “noooo, we want to kite, we don’t want to SUP”. But in the end they were super happy playing around with the sups and even racing each other.
I really know is was a good thing to do because everyone was smiling and when it came to goodbye time ended up with crying kids because they did not wanted to leave.
How did you feel afterwards?
Extremely tired. 3 days trying to keep everything in order, making sure the kids were not breaking the entire hotel, trying to keep them constantly entertained, motivated and smiling… especially the part where we were teaching 16 kids to kite, running after them, shouting “stop, stop or comeeeee”…
I guess there is no way it is not going to be exhausting being in charge of 16 kids!
More than anything though, I feel EXTREMELY happy. Everyone was happy (parents, kids, instructors, sponsors and photographer) so I really feel that I achieved my mission.
What lessons did you learn
– Kids can only be quiet for an hour.
– Kids need at least 6 hours on the beach before they are tired.
– I already knew this but it was good to remember- we all need a bit of attention and love.
– I learned so much about how to organize a camp.
– Parents should be far away
– I can’t handle so many kids alone.
– Asking help from sponsors and others really can help you a lot.
Are you going to do it again?
Absolutely, I CANT WAIT TO ORGANIZE THE NEXT ONE. If someone here reading this is interested, please, get in touch with me.
Would like to thank Másmóvil, ION, Secreto del Sur, RedShark Fuerteventura, Best Kiteboarding, Othman Studio and Roberta & Roberto because, without them none of this would have been possible.
All photos: Othman Studio / Julia Castro
