Rewards of Father-Son Weekend “All a Father Could Ask For”

Andrew Gooden had other options for the weekend beyond attending his eighth straight McCallie Father-Son Camp with his dad, Chris. For one thing, at 14 years old, he was the oldest son in the camp. For another, as a budding lacrosse star on last year’s Middle School state championship team, his summer travel squad was playing in Atlanta on Saturday and Sunday.

But that didn’t mean nearly as much to Andrew as spending one more Father-Son Weekend with his dad.

“I have a lot of my life left to play lacrosse,” he said. “I’d rather be with my dad. I have two sisters and it’s so nice to have a weekend when I can spend time with just him only.”

If this year’s camp is any indication, that feeling among both fathers and sons is growing rather than waning. This was the best-attended Father-Son Weekend yet, with 73 total dads and 84 sons. It forced the school to place a few fathers and sons in North Hutcheson dormitory for the first time ever in the 12 years of the camp. The Burns and Pressly dorms had previously been able to hold all the campers.

“I was worried about a bigger group,” said longtime camp director Mike Wood, who is slated to retire at the end of the summer. “But it worked out great. It’s grown a little every year, but never like this. We had some dads who had no previous ties to McCallie, but had heard what a great experience it was and brought their sons. You always hope some of those sons become students down the road.”

George Hazard ‘04 is a third-generation McCallie man, following in the footsteps of his grandfather George S. Hazard Sr. and his father, George Hazard Jr. ‘64, who received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2024.

He brought his 11-year-old son Hampton and 8-year-old son Hollis to this year’s camp from the family home in Columbus, Mississippi. Hampton had come twice previously when he was 6 and 7. This was Hollis’s first time on the McCallie campus.

“One thing I like about the camp is it’s turnkey,” said Hazard. “You just have to get yourself to campus, then the lodging, food, and activities are all taken care of. It’s just a tremendous setup. I think my boys liked everything, but playing football on Pete and Ralph Potter Field was our favorite activity, especially for me, since I played for Ralph when I was here.”

It should be noted that Hazard not only played for Ralph but was a member of the 2001 state title team.

“I have to say though that as fun as football was, Battle Ball is almost as popular with the campers,” he said. “Those were pretty intense games, especially the sons against the fathers. I think the dads won, but it was close.”

One thing Andrew Gooden took from the weekend was, “That my dad is surprisingly good at sports. He can shoot a basketball and hit a golf ball, and he’s pretty good at football and pool.”

The football part is understandable. Chris played the sport for four years at Centre College. As for the other sports, Andrew said the two squared off in both pool and ping-pong, with Chris getting the upper hand at pool but Andrew prevailing in ping-pong.

And did any of those competitions include a bit of trash-talking?

“Oh, yeah,” said Andrew. “But not too much.”

As Wood has often stated, the long-range goal of not only Father-Son Weekend but all the summer camp programs is to turn the campers into McCallie students somewhere down the line. His longtime refrain: “If we can get a McCallie ball cap on them when they’re five or six years old, we’ve got them for life.”

Especially if their father also graduated from the school.

“I would think it’s a pretty high probability that Hampton and Hollis will end up at McCallie,” said Hazard. “I think they would both thrive there. I certainly hope they can become the fourth generation of Hazards to attend McCallie.”

If this is the last Father-Son Weekend for Wood, he not only leaves on a high note, but one that has seen former summer campers who first attended as young as age nine return with their sons for the father-son experience.

“Right now, I can’t imagine not doing this again next year,” he said. “Then again, come next summer, I may decide I’ve had enough, that this retirement thing’s working out pretty well.”

There will be no next year for the Goodens, of course. Though Chris works in Admission for McCallie, Andrew is now too old to do another camp. “It’s pretty sad,” Andrew noted a couple of days after camp ended. “But it’s given us so many chances to bond with each other. I’m so happy we had these weekends together.”

And for Chris, his son choosing one final Father-Son Weekend over a lacrosse tourney will last a lifetime.

“Just to know that he wanted to be with me more than his teammates,” he said. “What I’ll miss most, but always remember, is Andrew wanting to spend time with me. It’s all a father could ask for.”

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