Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Cross Country Mom

So this year one of my boys decided to try a new sport.  And I am so excited!!  Last spring after a not-so-stellar basketball season (it's tough being short), this kid decided to go to tennis camp.  He really enjoyed it, the Jr Hi coach was very encouraging.  She even sent us names of people who offered private lessons if he was interested.  So I thought he would definitely want to play tennis.  However, the last day of school he brought home a flyer about cross country conditioning for the entire summer, and said he wanted to go really bad!  I thought it would last a day, boy was I wrong.  This meant finding him a ride for the mornings, and him getting up early twice a week the entire summer.  Which he did and never complained.  

Fast forward to cross country season, and he is still in love with running.  And I am in love with cross country.  I never thought I would say that sentence.  Here are some reasons I love this sport....


1. There are no referees! Which means no parent yelling at the referees.  It's amazing!  No "you suck", "that was a horrible call", "where are your glasses?", "I can tell this is your home town", "blow the #$%&@ whistle", "are you kidding me?!?".  (all of which I've heard spectators yell)

2.  No one is telling the kids all the bad things they are doing.  No "that was a bad pass", "why didn't you catch that?", "are you kidding me?", "are you going to play or not? you're wasting my time."  (all of which I've heard parents yell at kids)


3.  Everyone is cheering for everyone.  First place or last place, everyone gets cheered for.  It is so encouraging to see the slowest runner still being rooted for.  I've seriously gotten a little emotional watching some of these kids run.  To see all the hard work these kids have put in and the hours of running they've done just gets me all choked up.

4.  It's an individual sport and a team sport.  I have no idea how the scoring/point system works.  I do know it helps to have several fast runners on one team.  Our boys team has won meets without a 1st or 2nd place runner. (still don't understand that)  So you are not only running for yourself, but also the others on your team.



5.  And lastly I love cross country because of this guy right here.  Our team has 4 7th graders who are pretty fast, and they are already talking about next season.  He's also trying to talk his twin brother (who is fast/plays soccer) into joining cross country in 8th grade.  If this happens, I'll fall even more in love!!! #allthehearts #XC