Traveling with Young Athletes

Our teenagers participation in sports has sometimes required us to travel long distances to events. So far, this has always been because they have achieved entry into a level of competition that they worked hard to accomplish. A regional or national competition is a big deal and something we felt deserved our commitment as parents to assist them in participating in.

Needless to say, travel is expensive. Our family vacations have predominantly been budget conscious adventures, tent camping, lots of sandwiches on the road, etc. So our earliest sports travel expenses were quite a shock. Fun and exciting, but did a number on our budget! I began to explore options and ways to reduce the expense. One wonderful discovery was of Airbnb. Not only did Airbnb save us money but the accommodations were actually beneficial in many ways, especially for our daughter, as she competed at gymnastic meets.

Staying in the hub (the designated host hotels) of competition excitement can be invigorating but it can also be distracting and overwhelming for an athlete as they prepare for high level competitions. In the case of gymnastics there are often many athletes of varying ages with different needs and expectations. The activity level can be distracting. Socializing looks more fun than getting rest, eating well and staying focused. The food choices, especially if your funds are limited can be restrictive.

Food

Healthy nutrition is an important component for competing athletes. Eating on the road is typically more restrictive and finding good nutrition on the road is difficult without over spending. It can be difficult to maintain a healthy diet especially one required by a young competing athlete while traveling. Staying with Airbnb hosts has been amazingly beneficial for us, in this regard. We have been able to find accommodations that have provided access to complete use of a kitchen, allowing us to prepare food for ourselves instead of eating out or resorting to packaged items. In one case we were asked by our host in advance, what items we would like to have available for breakfasts. When we arrived we were greeted by a well stocked supply of appropriate, start your day right, meal choices.

Share the Expense 

Trying to keep costs down, we have organized with other families, to share the expense. Due to different competition levels, schedules and needs of the athletes, arranging to share accommodations can be helpful or honestly, only add to the level of stress. We have at times been fortunate to have teammate families that have been willing to share travel and/or accommodations. Depending on the location and distance, sharing driving especially, can be much more cost effective than air travel.

We have shared both hotel rooms and airbnb accommodations.  The advantage to sharing an Airbnb is the wide range of options available. There are whole houses, or single rooms. There are luxury accommodations, or bare bones facilities. In one situation, we shared with another gymnast and her mom, we had two lovely bedrooms (the girls shared one, us moms the other), The downside of this arrangement was the chatting that went on into the night, infringing on sleep. And it wasn't the girls who were up late into the night chatting and losing sleep. We have always had access to a kitchen when staying in an Airbnb.  As a result, we have been able to provide the best nutrition and cook up some great meals. After one meet we were able to share a wonderful meal of celebration with our hosts. You never know where support for your young athlete and your family will come from.

Pineapples are symbols of hospitality. Airbnb hosts deliver.

Visit Airbnb

Another Gymnastics Season Completed

She did it! With an outstanding All Around finish in 11th place in her age group at USAG Level 9 Eastern Nationals my daughter, Adah, has another gymnastics season under her belt.

After a few minor set backs of illness and family financial considerations this year, Adah had a fantastic season competing USAG level 9. She does the hard work of training and conditioning and we do our best to support her through each season. We are fortunate to have a young gymnast who appreciates the commitment and sacrifice it takes from her family for her to excel in this demanding sport.

A gymnast's season encompasses it all!

Congratulations, Adah on another year well done!
Adah's 2016 season on youtube

Asher at Bat - We Encourage Our Kids to Participate in Organized Youth Sports

There is a wide range of available opportunities in our current culture for organized youth sports. There are as many sports as there are kids to play; as many games as there are days in summer, fall, spring and winter. There is baseball, lacrosse, badminton, gymnastics (several kinds), track and field, soccer, hockey, volleyball and I'm sure plenty more I'm not even aware of. In each, there are varying levels at which to participate.

There are community leagues; parents volunteer to manage, coach and assist with administration. Often associated with national organizations, many communities give these groups priority for field time and park access. Little League Baseball and American Youth Soccer Organization are just two examples.

In some communities there are park district leagues; anyone can sign up and everyone plays. Organized and administrated by local city parks and recreation departments these leagues often hire young adults to assist with teaching and coaching.

There are travel leagues and travel teams; in some cases, there is still parent coaching and managing. Though in these leagues, it is more likely there will be a privately hired coach. Training for the players on these teams is usually more intensive. Some of these teams will require try outs, others won't. These are basically club sports that are private. Participation in competitions is administrated through a larger organization. USA Gymnastics for gymnasts is an example.

And in the good ol' USA.
There are school teams, some where everyone plays and some exclusive. On the exclusive school teams, coaches choose players based on skill and ability already achieved and demonstrated at try-outs. Some school teams will include training and skill development, but don't count on it. Some school sports are not available to everyone.

Whatever level of participation you choose for your young athlete, there are fruitful experiences to share.

Benefits for the athletes:

• Productive, keep busy activity
• Social time with a purpose
• Family involvement and activity
• Parent and son/daughter time

Many life lessons including:

• Being a part of a team
• Learning about, how to handle competition
• Learning what it takes to achieve excellence
• Learning to work with others
• Learning to encourage others
• Learning to find appropriate mentors

Competition


Bring up the topic at any adult event where parents are present and you will hear plenty of arguments for and against the competition inherent in sports participation. The fear and trepidation regarding the competitive nature of sports has actually become one of my reasons to encourage participation. Our world is saturated with competition and  based on what I know about human nature, it's not going away anytime soon. So let's dive in and wrestle with it. Let's be in the process of understanding it with our kids. Let's not just throw them in on their own and pretend that if we only choose the right activities (art & theater) for them, they won't encounter it.

Parents and coaches can (and should) have ongoing conversations about the games they are a part of and the competition involved. Listen to your young athlete's impressions and understanding. Don't make assumptions about what it means to them. Usually they have deeper understanding then we know.

Keep Talking

Consider exploring for yourself and with your athlete some of the following questions:
What is your goal for today's game or practice?
What skill do you want to practice to improve?
How can I help my teammates?
How can I contribute to my team?


One Example From Our Experience

Little League also offers suggestions

Our son, Asher, by his own choice, began playing   T-Ball at the age of five. Having watched his older brother play countless games already, Asher was an astute player when he first took the field. The rules of T-Ball were to him, unfortunately dumbed down. On one occasion, riding home from a game he talked T-ball rules. Angry and indignant to the point of tears he recounted a play that involved his impressive throw to first base. The throw beat out the runner but to Asher's dismay, the runner was allowed to stay on base. The meaning to him was that his effort wasn't acknowledged. To him the rule change negated the effort of his throw. Explaining that each player comes with different levels of skill and knowledge, especially at that age, was important. However, the experience reinforced for him the desire to gain skills to move on to experiences with more competition, not less.

Whatever level of participation you choose for your young athlete, there are fruitful experiences to share. Staying involved and active in sports can be worthwhile. There is learning and growth to be enjoyed at the gym or on the field for every family member, just keep connecting to one another and Play Ball!

Set You Own Goals

She was determined.

My daughter's USA Gymnastics (USAG) 2014-2015 season is over. It was a good one. She succeeded in accomplishing the goals she set for herself. One of the many keys to her success this season, was that she set those goals for herself. Determined to secure her place at a national meet, she went to every practice with her goal in mind and continued the hard work on specific skills and the overall conditioning required.

In gymnastics anything can happen. Athletes spend hours in the gym perfecting skills only to be burdened by an injury at the time of an important competition. It is an extremely demanding sport that takes perseverance in the best of circumstances.

After bowing out of travel to Florida for a regular session meet, I assured Adah that if she qualified, we would do whatever we could to get her to the Eastern National meet in Florida.

Adah competed in 5 meets in the regular season and at the State Championships. There she qualified for the USAG Region 5 Championships. She finished at the regional competition with her mission accomplished; qualifying for Eastern Nationals.

Love those post competition smiles!

Adah's participation in the Eastern National meet provided her with the reward of accomplishment and both of us with the exciting opportunity for a mother daughter trip to Kissimmee, Florida. We had a great time exploring a bit of Florida together. And I achieved one of the goals I set for myself this season, quality bonding time with my growing daughter!

She took me up on my promise and turned it into a trip to the beach!

Watch her routines here.

Into the World of Competition

One of the amazing places my youngest, my beautiful and talented daughter, Adah, has

led us to, is into the world of competitive gymnastics.

We didn't set out to be gym parents but as a homeschooling family, we looked for opportunities to have our children interact with others and to be physically active. Play dates worked for quite awhile, especially when my children were toddlers and when my boys were under five. As they grew and their interests broadened, they gravitated toward the learning of more nuanced physical skills. While they still enjoyed and valued unstructured play, they desired the learning of specific skill sets. Developing and incorporating new physical skills requires teaching, training and practice. So we began to supplement the free play with some structured activities.


Organized sports programs.

Community organized sports offered interaction, physical activity and the opportunity to learn specific sports skills. Pursuing all of the above, we have found ourselves involved in organized sports programs with our kids for over a decade now. Our boys have participated in organized baseball, basketball, hockey to varying degrees, as well as in friendly neighborhood pickup games. There are more than a few stories, current and from recent family history about those activities to share. However, the given moment of the season is with my daughter; this post is about the amazing and demanding sport of gymnastics.

The gymnastics pursuit all began as an innocent interest on my part in getting my daughter into an activity of her own, where she could meet others her own age, where she could have an experience of physical activity in a structured class of her own. She had been spending a lot of time at her older brothers' baseball games and though they willingly taught her baseball skills, she showed no interest in following that beaten family path for herself. The most appealing thing about a baseball game to her was the park playground.

The climbing, tumbling fun of the playground, her interest in dance, her desire to meet and share time with other girls and probably significantly, winter, led us to a community tumbling class. I never dreamed that class would lead us into a competitive sport with my youngest. She enjoyed it and she was good at it. One class lead to another, to a training team and an invitation to join a competitive team. Eight years later, we are entrenched.

Gymnastics takes a huge family commitment for a child to participate beyond a class or two and into competition. 

As she achieves new skills and advances through the levels, I marvel at what we and so many families do to support the participation of a child in gymnastics. Despite the fact that it is her sport ( I work really hard to keep my own issues separate and to maintain the resolve that it is her sport, not mine, not ours, hers) it is a sport that requires a huge commitment from those supporting an aspiring gymnast. A gymnast's, almost daily, attendance at practices requires transportation and family scheduling to accommodate. Everyone else in the family has to adjust. We continue to eat dinner as a family regularly, but that meal isn't usually served until 8 pm, after practice. There is a substantial financial commitment that is placed on a gymnast's family that can be a burden when money is tight. (For more on that ask a gymnast's siblings).

The rewards are great as well. 

To watch a child grow and learn from the demands required is inspiring. To achieve the series of movements it takes to perform a seemingly impossible routine on a balance beam, or to finally tumble a dreaded pass across the floor with grace is a truly remarkable feat and a joy to behold. There are benefits that make providing the support behind the scenes worth while. 

The benefits of participation in the sport of gymnastics that I have observed for my now teen daughter include:

• Excellent physical conditioning, 
• a strong sense of what she can accomplish,
• an understanding of what it takes to excel in an elite sport or in any endeavor,  
• confidence,
•  positive self and body image,
• discipline, 
• strong bonds with teammates and friends who participant in gymnastics,
• appreciation of the challenges and accomplishments of others, 
• required healthy eating habits, 
• an interest in maintaining good health, 
• an interest in women's sports in general.

                                                                                 

So we are off to the next level of competition. I am looking forward to witnessing the culmination of all of the hard work my daughter has put into this endeavor. I am grateful for the opportunity. I am most grateful for the opportunity to have a very special trip together that rewards her dedication and her hard work and will more importantly, allow us to create lasting memories of love and support. 

Good luck, Adah! No matter where you place, you will always be a 10.0 in my heart!