In thinking about this I realized that the entire team had gotten locked into the competitive aspect of the sport and we have not been making time for the sheer joy and pleasure of swimming. Over the past week I have been planning some fun and social time into the practice schedule and have noticed a sudden and profound increase in both attendence and positive attitude toward practice.
As coaches and parents, I am learning that it is vital to keep our sport fun! It is why we get into swimming in the first place and, I am convinced, it is why we continue with it throughout our lives.
The goal now, at least for our team, is to keep a good balance between the competitive improvement and the fun of being in the pool. I will keep you posted.
