A season comes to a end...

Okay, so it's been far too long since I posted something substantive. Below is a post I made to the Cooking Light Bulletin board about my coaching season.

On Saturday we ended another season of ski racing for Team Summit. This year was a challenging year on many, many levels. I had fewer athletes but each of these athletes needed more individual attention so I was glad to have less. We had challenges such as FREEZING cold temperatures for the first 8 weeks, a child with issues with textures so getting dressed was a challenge, we had a visual disability that made running gates very tough, we had discipline problems and we had tragedy in the death of a beloved mother. But, through it all there have been some bright lights and I thought I'd share them with you guys just as I did last year. Remember, these kids are 5 and 6 years old!

*First day, a little boy is being too rambunctious in the lodge at lunch time, beating up on kids and coaches/parents. I called him over asked him if he knew what respect is. His response "The Queen of Soul". I said "What?" and he responds "The Queen of Soul, she sings a song about respect."

*Little M's smile. That boy could melt a glacier with that smile.

*Watching the other little M come around from fighting coming to training to loving every minute of it. Oh, and when she almost lost her pants getting on the lift it was very hard not to laugh out loud.

*The littlest H. She was always agreeable to anything I asked of her, from her first black diamond powder run when the powder was up to her knees, to long race days.

*My little angel, the other H. I cry when I think of her growing up without her mother but she taught me so much about love and and living life in the face of much sadness. Her face will always be etched in my mind and I hope that one day many, many years from now she'll remember her coach who loves her very much. I can only hope that I can continue to be a part of this little girl's life.

*Spaulding Bowl. On March 15th I took 5 of my kiddos (the other two were competing at Nastar Nationals) into Spaulding Bowl, a double black diamond which they had to ride their first Poma lift to get too. On top of that, my dad who was my head coach during racing joined us to assist. Watching those kids make it through that run, and have fun doing it was very rewarding.

*Watching my kids from last year clean up in races this year and show off the technique they started learning last year.

At the end of the season, I don't know that I'll coach full time next year. As health issues have plagued and life gets busier I may decide to sub so that I have more flexibility. But, in the end, I'll be back one way or another. The smiles and hugs are addictive for sure. For now, I'll head to the slopes to ski with friends until the last of the snow is gone and then, I'll start dreaming of the turns I'll be making in just 6 long months from now.