Growth Potential

When getting involved in things, I tend to go one of two ways. Either excitement tapers off and that given project/goal just vanishes into the ether, or I take that project to its limits. That tendency is readily apparent in my endurance sport participation.

I run marathons because a doctor asked me to run 1.5 miles a couple times a week. Somewhere in my head, it made perfect sense that if I was going to run a few miles each week, I may as well run a marathon. And if I'm going to run one marathon, I may as well try and run 1o (I haven't made the leap to 50 state marathoner. Yet.).

I became a triathlete because some 8th graders challenged me to complete one. And yes, it makes perfect sense to me that completing ONE triathlon turned into a registration for Ironman Louisville. If I'm going to do triathlons, why not go for the gusto.

And now, it appears this is the direction our youth athlete project is headed. Our initial goal of working with perhaps 10-15 young men and women is likely to get totally outdone. With three grades left to address, we have 25 youth who have expressed interest in the program. If we have a similar response in the other grades, and only 50% follow-through, we'll have nearly double the kids we can finance. So, it's off to find more financing.

And the potential to explode developed at our triathlon club meeting. No sooner had we mentioned the project than we had a member mention that she was working with a local tribal community (unsure which nation, Oneida, Menominee???) to generate interest in triathlons amongst the Native American youth.

Being me, this is hugely exciting. It introduces an aspect none of us had even considered. The opportunity to build a team of youth that bridges cultural gaps goes way beyond our initial thinking. And, of course, it presents the chance to go WAY overboard with another project.

But they're kids. And for me, there is no such thing as "too much" when it comes to offering exciting new opportunities for kids to learn and grow. So, let's see just how carried away I can get with this project.