Friday, January 17, 2014

Unexpected Rough Start

Well, we had high hopes for the team this year, but things have not gone as planned or expected. I'm sure the team staff is feeling it as well. There's a different mix of kids this year, some of whom are not quite ready to be on the team, they just don't have the skills yet. There's also been injury problems with both team members and coaches.

The season started off early with plenty of cold and snow. We were getting to practice and it was going pretty well. For some reason, we've had a bunch of rainy Saturdays recently. Makes for a wet, soggy practice that's not much fun.

Then the real problems started. First, the boy who was going to compete boarder cross this year broke his arm. Then we found out one of the coaches hurt his knee. They had subs fill in and now it looks like he's probably done for the season as he's going to be having surgery soon. I think the coaching situation has been worked out and they have a new regular coach and a couple of other subs.

The biggest frustration is only having one coach on weeknights. When the skill sets are so far apart and the drive is different, it makes for a tough practice. Whitney can't get what she wants/needs to get ready to compete and I'm sure the other kids are frustrated as well, being pushed beyond where they're comfortable. The good news is that the coaches know Whitney's goals and that she's got a competition coming up in a couple of weeks and they are doing what they can to help her improve her skills.