Hi all,
As part of my other role, as president of Moorabbin Little Athletics Centre, I have just watched a video that LAVic have done as part of the ‘Let Kids Be Kids’ campaign, which is a national campaign focussed on addressing ‘poor sideline behaviour’.
I would like to encourage all parents to click on the attached link and spend 3-4 minutes of their time watching, first-hand, the impact that your behaviours can have on young minds and/or their enjoyment of sport.
http://www.lavic.com.au/News/let-kids-be-kids-little-athletics-victoria-version
Given that our 11 & 12 year olds will be competing at their State Short Course event this weekend, and some of our older athletes will be competing at the Open Short Course, this is a timely reminder for parents to consider how you are going to react to the performances of those swimmers that have managed to qualify for these events.
Qualification for states, in & of itself, is an absolutely amazing achievement. Based on my calculations (quick check of Psych Sheet), there are only 8-10 events (in the 11 & 12 age groups) with more than 50 entrants. When you consider how many swimmers we have in Victoria, to be ranked in the top 50-60 swimmers, before you even dive off the blocks, is phenomenal.
I am proud of the fact that our swimmers & coaches are constantly trying to improve, and that they place a huge emphasis on PBs. However, it is a simple fact that not every swimmer will swim a PB every time that they enter the water. This could be for a myriad of reasons (e.g. didn’t sleep well the night before, nerves caused by own expectations, just didn’t feel well in the water etc.)
As such, how parents & coaches react to our swimmers’ performances will have a direct bearing on what each swimmer takes away from this weekend.
So let’s celebrate the already amazing achievement of our children/swimmers and continue to encourage them to just “do their best”. As the kids say in the video, they are always trying (regardless of how it may look from the sidelines).
To all of our swimmers, whether you have qualified this weekend or not (or even if you are just swimming for fitness and don’t compete in competitions), your dedication and resilience continues to astound me (i.e. I struggle to swim for 50m, let alone for 1-2 hours).
To those swimmers that are competing this weekend, good luck. Please remember that, regardless of what time you swim/what place you finish, I’m sure your parents know that you are striving to ‘be your best’ (even though they may not always tell you so). That also applies to those swimmers that aren’t competing this weekend, as well.
On behalf of the CASC Committee, we are immensely proud of every single one of you.
Cheers

Chris Sharp
President