Sport of the Month

Seamus came home with big news last week. He was named "Sport of the Month" for his kindergarten class.

"This honor is awarded to students who shine with great sportsmanship. This student shows good listening skills, gets along well with others and always gives forth 100%!"

Along with a pretty nice certificate, this honor includes a special square to stand on (I'm not sure what this means either), line leader privileges, and first responder responsibilities when teacher asks, "How many more laps do we want to run?" Seamus is pretty excited and we are so proud of him. My mom (Seasoned educator) was also quick to notice that with only 9 school months in the year - not every kid will be "sport of the month". Obviously, this raises the prestige of aforementioned award.

I'm fairly certain that the Dougherty call/response was a huge contributor to this achievement.
Dad: "What is pain?"
Kids: "Pain is weakness leaving the body!"
Nothing more sportsman-like than getting rid of a little weakness during gym class.

On this theme - Dad and Seamus went to the first Swim team practice last night. 55 kids K-8 at the first practice with 1 official coach and 4 extra Dads (me included) Seamus is a "Squid" and he had a blast. A bit of kick board, couple half pool races, some "dive and touch the bottom" action - all very fun. I'm fairly certain this is how Michael Phelps got started, so go ahead and book tickets for Olympics in St. Paul in 2022. I ended up running the "Sting Rays" lane - working on freestyle and backstroke form. (I know the proper form - even if I'm not that great at following it) In wonderful St. Paul fashion - two of the other Dads were also ND grads. GO IRISH!

I think we can call Seamus' first dive into organized sports a raging success. I'll keep you updated as the season progresses. If you have a kindergartener in an organized sport - please share in the comments.
- Kid
- Sport
- best thing about your kid in the sport
- worst thing about your kid in the sport

The only tip I've received so far on coaching kids was "have a couple of beers beforehand". While it sounds like a suggestion born of experience, I did not follow it. A good time was had by all!