Sporting Matters

The arrival of better weather means one thing and one thing only - time to get outside and play a little more sport, without danger of you freezing solid or having to wear 6 layers of snowproof clothing.
Jaz has started her trampolining up again, at Airborne Tumbling and Trampolining Club. She's been missing it a lot since her move over here, so it was a relief to get her into a local club. She's going to start with the trampolining, and might well take up tumbling too later in the year. So far, she's loving her new club, and is in a small group of about 4 kids, doing a 90 minute session once a week. They have 3 trampolines, so there's plenty of bounce time, and she's managed to pick up where she left off, although the levels here are all a little different. As well as the bouncing, they also do a lot of strength and flexibility training too, which she's enjoying.
Jake has started up his footie again too, although herein known as soccer. Here, football is the American Football style game (known as Canadian football obviously on this side of the border) and with the new name, comes a whole new language. Boots are 'cleats', tackling is 'hustling'....I could go on. He's joined the Okotoks Warriors team, and plays in the High Country League. Here, kids soccer is much more inclusive than in the UK. Jake will never be a future Beckham, but has always really enjoyed playing. For the first time here, he is able to play in a competitive league without fear of rejection or ridicule. It has done wonders for his self esteem, and there are lots of other kids at a similar skill level so that he feels a valued part of a team, where the emphasis is on having fun and enjoying the game, rather than the pushy and at times downright aggressive junior league system in the UK, where if you weren't very skilful or didn't show enough natural flair, you were either bypassed completely, or doomed to sit endlessly on a subs bench. There are no screaming parents on the sidelines, hurling abuse when a child miskicks or makes a mistake. Here, bad behaviour such as swearing is treated really seriously, with matches being forfeited or coaches sacked for unsportsmanlike conduct. Instead, the atmosphere is positive and encouraging, with parents cheering their kids on, win or lose, smiling and laughing and enjoying the game. A far healthier approach in our opinion.