I have been spending a big chunk of my summer holding down the metal bench beside our local pool. I have both the kids signed up for lessons with one in the morning and the other in the evening. My oldest has worked her way to highest level. We have gone all the from Catfish to Manatee/Neon. It’s loosely alphabetical. Anyway, they gave us a flyer advertising a clinic with the swim team. My daughter isn’t interested in competition, but the weeklong class was a cheap way to find out, plus work on all her strokes.

In the meantime, I wrangle the younger kid and chat with other parents. Some are keenly interested in swim team to either gain college scholarships or have their kid tryout for the Olympics. With my girls at age ten and four, my main interest is keeping them busy while also learning water safety etc. Also, I have not verified that any one from the local area has achieved either lofty goal. Most of the kids in our group are hilariously terrible, but they are enjoying the attention of the older kids helping out and the excitement of the event as a whole.

It reminds me of middle school, when I went out for volleyball. My best friend and I made the alternate B team. Which means when a school has an A and B team, we played whoever had energy to play a second game. We lost all but two games the whole season. It was really bad, but we still had fun riding on the bus to games listening to cassette tapes of Tiffany. Here’s the thing, I learned the game. Later, after I grew a bit, I wasn’t half bad. Much later and did fairly well in church league. The muscle memory stays in your body and your heart.

I also ran track for two years. I was not fast, constantly fifth and sixth out of six. I won no trophies. They didn’t even give out the plastic ones back then, just ribbons for 1-3 place. My running buddy still jogs every week and my experience gave me just enough motivation to participate with my daughter’s Girls on the Run 5k last year.

Athletics don’t just have to be for winning scholarships and prizes. They should be about health and fitness, learning skills and building camaraderie. Doing sports as a kid can set you up better to live a healthier lifestyle as an adult, as long as you keep your joints in good repair. I don’t want to push either kid so hard that they hurt themselves or learn to loathe the activity, but I do want them to see how far they can go.