My awkward relationship with sports (#19)

I never learned to like sports. I was afraid of most sports, especially those where people might be watching you (goes back to being a shy kid), and those where you might need coordination or skill or muscles or to have a competitive bone in your body. That's why I like the gym, cause you can read a book, listen to music, and no one's really watching you.

I have memories of elementary school where I was excused at the beginning of the year for being afraid to play socco (and my excuse was that I didn't know how to play), and then at the end of the year being yelled at by my 4th grade teacher because I said I still didn't know how to play (same lame excuse). I have memories of 6th grade softball and praying for dear life that no one hit the ball into far center field, and if it did, I would hope that it would veer more to the right or left so someone would come help me out and the disappointment at me when I would be chasing after a ball and not being able to catch or throw it... being consistently the last picked when setting up teams, to all the kids coming way in, when my dreaded turn at bat came up.

In middle school, my sister and brother would go outside in the morning to play and then come back at dark. I would sit upstairs in my room reading a book and hearing all the neighborhood kids play in the street. I would go to my sister, brother and friend's softball and soccer games, but never had any interest myself.

In high school, I was on the gymnastics team, but don't you know that I never competed, because after 8 or so years in the sport, I could not do the basic competitive skills in the routines, back hip circle, roundoff to back handspring, backroll to handstand, really pathetic if you are going to be a gymnast.

In college, I took racquetball, and liked it until I sprained my ankle... I never tried it again. I took a golf class, and also body conditioning. My family and friends skiied Mammoth together for years, and although I enjoyed skiing a lot, and braved the Cornice Bowl countless times, I was afraid of moguls, and honestly my favorite part of skiing was coming in for hot cocoa, and lunch, and coming back to hangout and chill with friends and family.

After college, my group of friends would take biking trips. I actually had a weekend job working at the YMCA taking inner city kids mountain biking, but my job was to always stay at the back to stay with the stragglers, but really I couldn't keep up with anyone except the kids at the very end. I got good at fixing flat tires of the kids who got left behind. As a mountain biker I was slow, but steady, likening myself with the tortoise who wins the race.

All that said, Maiya is lucky that Tony excelled in basketball, football, baseball and sportsmanship. And, here are some pictures of Maiya's first day at basketball clinic at the Y. They covered dribbling, shooting, and defense. She was pretty good at hitting the basket. And although a little tentative, she tried her best and had fun. So far so good!

NaBloPoMo#19