January Joy
(More blog entries from sue)
A job reward like this makes me feel like the luckiest employee on earth.
Writing can be really hard. How do I put into words the joy I feel watching our group of AVBKL Club kids, aged 6-12, ski away from the lodge at full speed, ready for another afternoon of games, challenges, and trail hunts on skis? I tell them “good effort” repeatedly. It’s an understatement. I watch these kids go up and down, up and down, up and down hills without complaint or hesitation, part of a challenge to improve downhill cornering. Or they go back and forth, back and forth, trying to see how far they can glide on one ski at a time. We play a game of freeze tag and I’m finally the one to say, OK, time for something new. Their energy seems endless, as does their enthusiasm. And their parents are right there with us, playing freeze tag, doing the ski statue challenge AND . . . helping to make sure each child has a ski companion, each child knows where to go, and each child is safe, happy and part of the group.
It takes me back to my days as a ten-year-old. I was an alpine skier at that age. My parents took my sister and me skiing at young ages and we loved it. When I was 9, our family built a ski house in Manchester, VT and we would drive up from NJ every winter weekend and vacation to ski. I had interest in racing and was invited to join the Stratton Mountain Junior Program. That first year I remember skiing all over the mountain in a happy little group of mostly ten year-olds, following a really fun, kind and youthful coach named TD McCormack. That is one of my happiest memories from years of alpine skiing. Skiing was pure fun. It had nothing to do with race results, the outfit one was wearing or the quality of one’s equipment. It was the thrill of speed, the joy of movement, the fun of skiing and being with friends.
That’s what I’ve wanted to help create for kids trying cross country. This year, with a group of enthusiastic families, eager kids, helpful and giving parents, it seems to be happening. It’s literally one of my dreams come true.
Re: January Joy
by sven
on Jan 26th 2008, 7:35 pm
Well said, and I'll look forward to the stories my daughter tells years down the road about a coach named Sue Wemyss.
Re: January Joy
by elk
on Jan 26th 2008, 11:32 pm
How well I remember you little rug rats bombing down the slopes (I was, after all, 12 at the time!). TD was definitely the Pied Piper of Stratton!
Great memories, Sue, and it sounds like you are helping families make new ones at Great Glen.
Re: January Joy
by Richard
on Jan 27th 2008, 9:05 pm
This is one of those blogs you kind of casually read and then you find yourself getting goose bumps and then warm all over. I've wondered if pros like Sue ever just get bored of skiing and end up on the couch watching TV all day instead for the rest of their lives. It's refreshing and motivating when the exact opposite happens.
