H
Harv
I finally figured out what's different!
After a surprisingly successful first season competing at level 4, the coaches skipped my boy from level 4 to level 6. If any of you had the patience to read my posts during this last year, you might recall that the age difference between my 11-year old and the much younger level 4's had been pretty stressful for him. Nobody's fault -- it' was just a natural level of maturity sort of thing.
Well, a few weeks ago he finally joined the level 6 group (actually, it's a combined levels 6 and 7 group). He was anxious and nervous all at the same time. Although he had watched these guys from a distance at workouts, he never really had much chance to mingle with them, so he felt very much like an outsider encroaching on their well-established territory.
It turns out that this group (and higher) had been observing (and even admiring) him all last season, so he was welcomed with handshakes and slaps on the back right from the start. It was instant camaraderie! Suddenly he was with true peers of his own age (he's right in the middle now), learning skills he's been dying to try, and just plain having a good time.
From my perch on the gym balcony, I've been mostly concerned to see if he's up to the challenge of this two-level jump. In fact, I was so focused on that that I was missing the obvious. There was something different about him out there now. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on. It wasn't until we were reviewing the videos I shoot at every workout I can get to that it finally hit me. My little dude was smiling! Sadly, that virtually never happened all last season (seriously).
Sometimes change is good.
-Harv
After a surprisingly successful first season competing at level 4, the coaches skipped my boy from level 4 to level 6. If any of you had the patience to read my posts during this last year, you might recall that the age difference between my 11-year old and the much younger level 4's had been pretty stressful for him. Nobody's fault -- it' was just a natural level of maturity sort of thing.
Well, a few weeks ago he finally joined the level 6 group (actually, it's a combined levels 6 and 7 group). He was anxious and nervous all at the same time. Although he had watched these guys from a distance at workouts, he never really had much chance to mingle with them, so he felt very much like an outsider encroaching on their well-established territory.
It turns out that this group (and higher) had been observing (and even admiring) him all last season, so he was welcomed with handshakes and slaps on the back right from the start. It was instant camaraderie! Suddenly he was with true peers of his own age (he's right in the middle now), learning skills he's been dying to try, and just plain having a good time.
From my perch on the gym balcony, I've been mostly concerned to see if he's up to the challenge of this two-level jump. In fact, I was so focused on that that I was missing the obvious. There was something different about him out there now. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on. It wasn't until we were reviewing the videos I shoot at every workout I can get to that it finally hit me. My little dude was smiling! Sadly, that virtually never happened all last season (seriously).
Sometimes change is good.
-Harv