Questions? We Got Answers.
Select the topic you have questions about.
Topic Categories
Basic Questions
It's free, and there's no catch. No admission, no equipment fee, no team fee, and nobody is going to pitch you anything at the door. Blue Apple Battle is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and this day is funded by our partners and donors so that cost is never the reason a Columbia kid sits it out.
It's a full day of live-action team games for kids ages 9 to 14, built so that the playing and the learning happen at the same time. Kids take the floor with their squad, play hard, and then huddle up between rounds to talk about what just happened out there. It looks like a game day because it is one. It's also the most effective way we know to teach a kid how to make a good call under pressure.
Because the game creates the exact conditions we want them to practice in. Every rotation runs the same arc: Briefing, Battle, Reflect, Debrief, Connect. Squads get their mission, play the round, then stop and talk about the real thing that just happened. Somebody rushed and cost the team. Somebody had a teammate's back. Somebody went along with a bad idea because everybody else did. Kids don't have to imagine the pressure, they just felt it, and that's when a conversation actually happens.
Reading a situation fast. Making a call when everyone is watching. Speaking up when something feels off. Looking out for the person next to them. Getting it wrong and resetting instead of quitting. Those are skills, not personality traits, and skills come from reps. That's what the day is: reps.
No, and your kid will figure that out in the first ten minutes. Nobody sits in rows. There's no slide deck and no assembly. The talking happens in short huddles between rounds, on their feet, with the squad they're playing with. Most kids don't clock it as a lesson at all. They clock it as the part where they argue about what went wrong.
An assembly tells a kid what to do. This gives them somewhere to practice it, with real pressure, real teammates, and adults who talk with them instead of at them. One of those changes what a kid does on a Tuesday when nobody's watching, and it isn't the assembly.
It means practice. Good decisions are a skill, and kids get better at them the same way they get better at anything, by doing it over and over with somebody coaching. So we don't spend the day warning kids about things. We spend it putting them in situations where they have to choose, then talking about the choice. That's what makes it stick long after they leave the gym.
Where it fits, and always at the right level for the age in front of us. With our youngest squads it's about pressure and speaking up to a trusted adult. With the older ones we get more direct about the choices they're already seeing. It's never graphic, and we don't use fear or shock. If you'd like to see the actual questions we use in the huddles, email us and we'll send them over.
No. Scare tactics don't work, and a kid who leaves anxious hasn't learned anything except to avoid the subject. Kids leave this day tired, loud, and proud of their squad.
Probably that their squad won something. Ask them what their huddle talked about, or what they'd do differently next round. That question opens more than “what did you learn today” ever will, and we'll send you a few more like it afterward.
The Questions Parents Are Weighing
They're here to play, not to patrol. The point is that a kid meets the person behind the uniform in a gym instead of on the worst day of their life, and that the officer meets the kid the same way. That said, no child has to talk to, play with, or be photographed with any first responder. If your kid would rather stick with our coaches, that's completely fine and nobody will make a thing of it.
Yes. A parent, guardian, or an adult you've approved needs to stay on site while your child is playing. We're not a drop-off program, and honestly the parents end up having as good a time as the kids.
Then this is built for them too. These aren't skill games, they're team games, and squads are put together so nobody is standing alone. Any kid can step out of a round and come back in. If there's something specific that would help your child have a good day, tell us on the registration form or email battle@blueapplevillage.com ahead of time and we'll plan for it.
Not at all. Every game is built so that thinking, communicating, and backing up a teammate matter more than speed. Some of our best players are kids who've never made a team.
Most of them won't. Squads are assigned, not chosen, and the first ten minutes of every rotation are built around getting a group of strangers working together. Kids walk in alone and walk out with a squad. That's the design.
They don't have to. There are several games running and any kid can sit one out, switch stations, or take a break and come back. Nobody gets pushed, and nobody gets singled out for stepping away.
Yes. All game equipment is soft, provided by us, and used under supervision, required where it applies, and trained staff run every round.
Every rotation is staffed by trained Blue Apple Battle volunteers plus personnel from our partner agencies, and no child is ever alone with an adult.
The Day Itself
Ages 9 to 14 on event day. Kids are grouped by age inside each rotation: Soldier for 9 to 10, Sergeant for 11 to 12, Captain for 13 to 14. Younger siblings are welcome to come and cheer, and the games themselves are built for the 9 to 14 cohorts.
Come anyway. They can't play in the squads, but the day is open to the whole family and there's plenty to watch and do. If your fifteen year old wants to be useful, ask us about volunteering. That counts for service hours.
One rotation is the full experience, about two hours. The day runs in three: First Call at 10:00 AM, High Noon at noon, and Final Push at 2:00 PM. Every rotation runs the same games and the same huddles, so pick the one that fits your Saturday. Plenty of families stay for all three.
Comfortable clothes they can move in and closed-toe athletic shoes, no sandals or slides. Bring a refillable water bottle. We provide everything else.
Parking is free and onsite.
Nothing changes. The whole event is at the Drew Wellness Center.
Registration and Paperwork
Yes, one thing, and it's the important one. Complete the official registration at blueapplebattle.com. That's where the waiver, emergency contacts, health information, and photo permission live, and your child can't check in without it. It takes about five minutes from your phone.
No. One ticket per playing child, ages 9 to 14. Everybody else just comes.
Yes. One caregiver account at blueapplebattle.com covers every child in your family, and you can claim up to six tickets in a single order. For groups, give us a shout at battle@blueapplevillage.com.
Only the Blue Apple Battle staff running check-in and safety on event day. It isn't shared with partner agencies, it isn't sold, and it isn't used for marketing.
Yes, we'll be photographing and filming for program promotion and impact reporting, and yes you can decline. Photo permission is a question on the registration form at blueapplebattle.com, and if you say no we flag it at check-in so your child isn't in the shots.
No hard feelings and no penalty. This is free.
Registered kids are guaranteed a squad and walk-ups play if there's room. The more the merrier.
Get Involved
Yes, and we need you. Sign up at blueapplebattle.com. If you can give two hours, we can use you.
Yes, ages 17 and up, and we'll document the hours for school. Sign up at blueapplebattle.com.
Yes. Vendor and community resource table applications are at blueapplebattle.com. Priority goes to organizations serving Columbia families directly.
Please do. Register each child individually so we have their waivers, then email battle@blueapplevillage.com with your group name and rough headcount so we can keep them in squads together if that's what you want.
This is our inaugural event and it's the start of the programming, not the whole of it.
We're a Columbia, South Carolina 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 33-4694849. We teach kids ages 9 to 14 how to make good decisions by giving them somewhere to practice, through live-action team games and the conversations that happen between rounds. The programming is built on CDC and SAMHSA prevention strategies, SC DAODAS frameworks, and CASEL social and emotional learning standards. Questions go to battle@blueapplevillage.com.