The Reform movement took notice of a declining attendance at its traditional summer camping program and decided to add an alternative to its summer experiences for Jewish children.

Three years ago the movement started the Six Points Sports Academy with a grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation. This summer the camp became self-sufficient, signaling its success. Campers attended from Broward, Palm Beach and Dade Counties along with Jewish children from around the nation, Israel and England.

Rabbi David A. Spey, 44, spiritual leader of Temple Bat Yam of East Fort Lauderdale, was asked to serve on the faculty at the Union of Reform Judaism's newest summer camp in Greensboro, NC.

The rabbi has just returned from the camp and was enthusiastic about its innovative programming.

"It's been about 30 years since I have gone camping," Spey said. "At most traditional Jewish summer camps there is an hour time block set aside daily for Jewish learning, but this camp was different," Spey said. "It was designed to reach out to campers who were going to specialty sports camps rather than a regular camp and it was my job to help the coaches and counselors to bring out Jewish values in the sports they were teaching."

Spey was out on the field with the soccer coaches and in the gymnasium with the basketball players.

"I got a lot more exercise than I am used to and plan to go back and do it again," Spey said. "The Six Points Sports Academy was started as an experiment," Spey added. "At first I was skeptical about how they could integrate sports with Jewish values, but it really works."

"The camp brought in top professionals in the fields of tennis, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, dance, etc.," he said. "The coaches spend two hours in the morning teaching the sport to the campers and there was a two hour competition at night. During the afternoon the campers could chose an activity such as canoeing or swimming in the indoor pool, zumba, dancing or rock climbing."

"But here is what was unique about the camp," Spey said. "Each morning for about 10 to 15 minutes at breakfast, a Jewish value is introduced to the campers such as community, courage or respect. The Hebrew name for the value is given and a short video is shown to the campers on how that value applies to Judaism."

Throughout the day the value is reinforced by the coaches and the rabbis. The coaches and counselors wear rubber bracelets with the Hebrew name of the value on it and when a camper's behavior exemplifies that value he or she is given a bracelet.

"It was amazing to see how positive the campers responded and how much pride they began to take in their Jewish heritage," Spey said. "At the beginning of camp, when we said the motzi (prayer before a meal) they were not that enthusiastic and by the end of the two weeks they were singing Jewish songs and acting like the cool thing was to be Jewish."

"Studies show that 80 percent of children who attend a Jewish camp maintain their affiliation with Judaism throughout their lives and the camp seeks to infuse Judaism into the daily routine of a sports camp," Spey said.

The camp has two-week sessions and the campers stay in the dorms of the American Hebrew Academy, a Jewish boarding school.

"The school has state-of-the-art facilities and a kosher dining," Spey said. "Six Points Sports Academy rents the school's facilities for the summer. The camp is open to all Jews and about two-thirds are Reform Jews, and the remaining third are a mixture of Conservative, Reconstructionist and Israeli Jews."

Randy Colman of Boca Raton was selected to start the Six Point Academy three years ago and served as its camp director since its inception.

"It was truly amazing to go from an idea on paper to a summer with 540 campers," Colman said.

"Now that Six Points is positioned for growth, I am returning to a position closer to my home and family and will assume the position of executive director of the Levis Jewish Community Center.

Six Points campers talked about their camping experiences.

Eliana Spey, 11, the daughter of Rabbi and Dara Spey, chose the dance module at Six Points.

"I do competitive cheerleading and dance in Fort Lauderdale and liked the one-on-one instruction by the coaches," said Eliana Spey. "It was my first camping experience and it was lots of fun. I met people from London and Israel and around the country and made new friends. It was a very upbeat experience."

This was Jessica Goodman's second season at the Six Points Sports Academy. The Boca Raton 15-year old is the daughter of Samantha and Alan Goodman.

"I play basketball on the girl's varsity team at Spanish River High School and I enjoy learning more about my sport," Goodman said. "I also enjoyed collecting the bracelets for Jewish values. I ended up with 15 bracelets."

Talia Andris, 9, daughter of Naomi Nixon and Greg Andris of Miami Beach wanted to learn more about basketball because her brother got her interested in the sport. She plays basketball on the North Shore Basketball League.

"I learned a lot at the camp and I loved everything about it," Andris said. "I collected bracelets for Jewish values and got them for community and responsibility."