Yep! You heard me right! My daughter has never been an athlete. That is not to say she's never tried. Oh, she tried all right! She even played lacrosse on an all-boys team (because it was new to our region and no other girls showed up!) She played softball, basketball, soccer, took years of dance, even ran track in middle school because it happened to coincide with the same time that I took up running! (To say I had an influence on her going out for that sport would be a major understatement.) I even talked her into running a 5k with me and to this day, that remains one of my greatest accomplishment as her mother. Well, it was The Color Run and we wore tutus and were covered in colorful powder at the end!! Oh yeah, and it wasn't timed. So, truth be told, it was really more like a party than a race! No wonder I talked her into it!
Anyways, back to my daughter's non-athleticism and how she earned a varsity letter. Sports have never been her thing. That is until freshman year when she walked into Health & Fitness class and the teacher, upon learning her name, asked her if she would like to do the track timing like her brother did. She replied "sure" but, not really very sure that this whole thing would ever come to fruition. Because sports really weren't her thing.
Fast forward to the spring of her freshman year when this coach made good on his offer and introduced her to the track timing system. She worked alongside the lead timing person for the entire season, honing her skills as a "photo finish expert". And, she loved it. The following year, there was an opening for the lead timer. So, the coach proposed that she take over and this is what led to her earning that varsity letter. How you may ask? I think the better question is why. And the answer to that WHY is because an amazing coach/teacher/human being believed in her. Because he saw something in her. Something that no one else had ever bothered to see. And that "something" was that she is smart, dependable, capable of much and not afraid of any stage being too big or too small. He took a chance on her and made her the Team Manager and subsequently part of the team. But, in doing that, he did so much more. He built that girl up, not because she was a star athlete but, because he saw something in her. And he believed in her. He believed in my girl.
So, one day last spring, my daughter came home with a certificate in one hand and a varsity letter in the other and one giant smile on her face! That moment will forever be etched in my mind and on my heart. Because that coach took the time to believe in my girl, she now believed in herself. And, that folks, is how my daughter earned a varsity letter without ever even breaking a sweat!
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