Putting the Age in Age group

When I started coaching 3 years ago at the age of 28, I was under the illusion that I was still basically a kid, or at least that I wasn’t a grown-up.  The club I coach for swims at a university pool, so on top of all the actual children I was seeing on a daily basis, I was noticing that I no longer could pass for a college student.  My first day of practice, I was completely intimidated by the 25 giggling, shouting, goof-off 10 year olds that surrounded me.  Sometime during that first workout, one of the kids called me “Coach Abigail” and that’s when I realized for the first time that I was a full-fledged adult.  These kids didn’t think that I was young; they looked at me the same way they would look at one of their teachers—as an adult they were supposed to listen to.  Once I came upon this realization, I was relieved and no longer intimidated, yet it was also a humbling moment for me.  It was not easy for me to accept my adulthood and it’s still something that I struggle with.  While I don’t believe that surrounding myself with 10 year olds can keep me young, I do hope that they will continue to help me remember what it was like to be 10.

This blog is not meant to dole out coaching advice, but rather to reflect on the way some 10 year old swimmers keep me grounded in childhood.  Stay tuned…