Tryouts 2011

I have to admit, as much as I would like to appear relaxed about tryouts I still get excited. Its the anticipation of who might be coming...or who isn't. This year I seriously thought we would have a bigger group than last year and I was anxious to form this year Gymnics team. God had other plans. This year we were down 20 people as compared to last year, it was a bit surprising. I guess I have formed this habit of drawing a correlation between successful year, like last year was, and more people at tryouts. Trying to predict what is going to happen in a Christ-center program was probably my first mistake, my second was getting trapped into thinking we needed more of the same to be considered as good as last year. So after 4 nights of tryouts in a gym that was smoking hot, the assistant coaches, captains, and myself sat around the table at Steak and Shake to consider who would make up this year's team. Honestly, it was harder than I thought. I don't think that aspect of tryouts will ever change, at least I hope not. I don't want to ever take it for granted that I am telling someone their skills don't match up, no matter how much the love the sport. I didn't make my college team the first time I tried, and it was like being sucker punched. So at 1:30am I logged onto facebook and typed out the team roster, checked it three times to make sure the names were right (sorry Jessica) and posted it. Slow breath out..... It doesn't matter that the team is so young, it doesn't matter 3/4 of the team is the height, it doesn't matter there are 7 fewer of us this year than last year, all that matters is there is a group of kids who are exceptional in their commitment to Christ-center gymnastics and they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. I could throw out all the traditional sayings like "diamonds in the rough", "they are fast learners", or "the future looks good". The truth is, the present pretty fantastic. You want to know why....read my next post. PRAY. PRACTICE. PERFORM.