Grace the Athlete Versus Grace the Girl

Grace is athletic. To people who follow me on Instagram or Facebook you probably are well aware of that. You are also probably very aware that I am a very proud sports Mom. In our town sports are everything. I don't think this is something unique to us, but I don't really know. There are a lot of politics and it often impacts our young athletes. While sports can be a huge asset and character builder in kids, in a town like ours there is an underside.

Grace made the travel basketball squad this year. It is a team of just ten girls who are deemed good enough to compete at this level. It was a HUGE honor for her. She started off the season strong and earned a spot as a starter. Another HUGE honor. She has not had good coaching in basketball so her inexperience showed to some degree on the court. This led to her being unfairly benched. It was ugly and unfair. It killed her self-esteem for a few weeks. After a tricky round of conversations with her coach things are on the upswing.

What all of this brought about for me was the power that sports can have in the lives of kids who view themselves as athletes. I coach more than one sport in our town and I see my job as a coach to first build the kids up and second to teach them a sport. Unfortunately not all of our coaches see it this way. Too often I am watching the goals look more like first, win and second, make sure the status quo of politics is in order. It's sometimes tough to watch.

I am partly writing this as a catharsis opportunity for myself, but also because I am sure there are a million Grace's out there who see themselves as athletes. A large part of their identity, and therefore self-esteem is tied into her sports. It's nothing something we taught or even encouraged, it's just her. So, now we as parents are tasked to give her the opportunity she needs to succeed in sports so she can develop a positive self-view. Those of us who were given athletically gifted kids to foster this in them. It's part of their development. And even more importantly, those of us who coach must remember that we are training not just athletes, but developing children.

Spring Sports Lament

The end of winter and beginning of Spring proved to be a wet, chilly and downright depressing couple of months. March and April surprised us with days in the 80's and we all thought the groundhog finally had it right. But alas, definitely not the case. Our Spring track season began, and this year with a notable difference. Brian is now the person in charge of the program.

One hundred and eighty six kids, a boat load of parents and siblings and a wide range of opinions and egos to match. There were definite growing pains and many sleepless nights. There have been battles and differences of opinions, but thankfully cool heads have prevailed. The thing we were not able to overcome was out tete a tete with Mother Nature. She cancelled practices, got us wet, forced us to move meets (which is a big undertaking at the last minute). I think she got a great deal of satisfaction out of creating a "baptism by fire" experience for us.

So now it's 90 degrees, after sweatshirt weather last week. We should be used to this in New Jersey but every year we all cry out the same tune of "where did our spring go?" The program as a whole has swung from "track is hard in the rain" to "track is harder in the heat." Personally I'll take heat over rain but then again clapping and cheering is largely unaffected by weather.

So our regular season winds down and the girls have started training for AAU qualifiers. Abby jumped 9'7" last night. Grace is stuck around a 7 minute mile but she'll get her time down. She is throwing the turbo javelin about 34 feet. Not too shabby.

I'll be glad, just as long as it's not raining.

Grace and Her Running Shoes

When I was a young girl I loved to run. I loved to race, jog, sprint, whatever. I didn't see much point in walking when running would get me there faster. As it turns out, my girl sees the world the same way. Last year she ran her first mile. This year she continues to leave me in awe. She is now running a 9 minute mile and loves ever second of it. She runs for fun, for practice and for competition. 

This past weekend we had a Saturday evening meet. She came in second in the 100 meter, which is not her favorite race. She did amazing in her leg of the 4 x 100 meter (she runs the anchor leg). Where she really shines is the 400 meter. That is one lap around the track. It doesn't sound like much but when you are racing 13 other girls, most of who are a year or two older... it isn't easy. 

She was outstanding. She came in third overall and was first for our whole team. Her time was 1.41 and I have seen her do it in less. It just astounds me that at six years old the girl just wants to run. I pray that this continues and running can be a way for her to control her ADHD. For now, I am just one proud Momma!


*** For the record, Abby is STILL running track. She holds her own. She has had two near spills this season but managed to stay on her feet. Again, her favorite thing to do is the long jump. Something about running full tilt into a pit of sand speaks to her!

Mid Summer Status

We are about at the halfway point in our summer and so far we have managed to fit in so much more fun than we did last year. This time last year we were struggling to find our way with a third child and how to juggle things like the pool and the library with a newborn. A year later we have found our footing and can do so much more. Not that it's always pretty but we do our best.

Our accomplishments thus far:

Two trips to the beach 

 

Playing in the rain (since we've had a ton in NJ this summer)

 Miniature golf with the Grandparents

 

 

 Fishin'

 

 

 

The Big Time Rush Concert

Story Time at the Library 

Jedi Academy 

Abrakadoodle 

Fireworks 

Plenty of time at the pool 

Three days at the discovery museum

A trip to the new giant playground in town 

Progress on our backyard playground

The Phillies Game 

A fun family wedding

 

What I truly think we have been lacking is down time. As much as I have fun stuff planned for the rest of the summer I think it's equally important for kids to get enough undirected play time too. It's a juggling act but one worth attempting. Here's to a great end of the summer. 

Phillies Game

On Saturday afternoon we got to take Jack to his very first Phillies game! My father in law was able to get some GREAT seats through his work so it was a great way to see the game. The game the night before got rained out so we go shifted from what time we thought we had. Poor Jack had about a 45 minute nap. But you hardly would have known it.

It rained the whole way there so we were praying for clear skies and a nice afternoon. 

The girls had been looking forward to going all week but I had no idea Abby was going to turn into a die hard fan in ONE GAME!

It didn't hurt that the Hall of Fame club seats have their own concession area with AIR CONDITIONING! It was over 90 degrees at 4 o'clock and pure humidity. 

And just when we thought were were in the clear it started to pour rain. Out came the tarp. :( 

Brian and I considered packing them up but the girls were not having that. We walked around the hall of fame club until the tarp came off. 

And then it went from hot and humid to muggy and unbearable. 

We gutted out a couple more innings in our seats and then took shelter under the overhang so we could have shade. (Most of the game we had shade and a rain shield but as the sun set it was beaming on us.)

Jack was SO, SO good. The game lasted almost four and a half hours with a rain delay and 11 innings. 

I think Daddy was fussier than Jack. ;D

And this kid. Pure Phillies fan. She danced and screamed and cried when we tried to leave. 

Grace loved every minute of it. 

And when it was over they had lost. Abby cried. A lot. 

She pulled herself together. Went home and took a shower and then plopped down on the sofa and started watching game 2 of the double header. Sniff * Sniff * I got my little Phan!!! :D

It was a good day. 

First Official Sports Season...

Our first organized sports season has drawn to a close. The girls absolutely loved track and will definitely be back next year. This year has given us a better sense of what each girl is good at and has definitely given us a lot of hope for Abby's "sports career". 

It began with a lot of nerves on our part. Would they like it? Would we have to twist arms to get them to go? 

We quickly realized that they would LOVE it. It was fun, competitive and was a chance to make even more friends. 

I am not sure when my kids suddenly became old enough to have school friends AND sports friends AND neighborhood friends but it happened. 

The year ended with a very fun pool party a week or so ago. It was a ton of fun to get to see the girls playing with all their track friends.