It was everything an old physical education teacher could desire. I spent six hours at a middle schools track meet, watching the kids as they ran and jumped. An added bonus was that Abigail, my granddaughter, who was eleven, competed in three events. She ran in the 4x100 meter relay, the individual 400 m. and the 4x400 relay. And her sixth grade class won the meet for the sixth graders. Seven schools competed with over 300 competitors so it was not easy to win.
It was a wonderful sight, sitting up on the stands in the comfortable seats. The field was full of kids milling around with their team mates. The stands were half full of parents and grandparents and friends. The jumping events continuing while the races were run around the oval. The public address person was giving winners and calling for further events. It made me wish I would attend a world cup track meet. It was very exciting. And very high tech. A starting gun activated the timer and the beam gives a picture to the judges to determine winner at the finish line. Every child is given their time via e mail to their school the evening of the event. Superb facility. Texans take their athletics seriously.
I had several observations. All the competitors were lean. All the competitors put out maximum effort and worked hard all the way to the end of their event. Some kids are just faster than others. One seventh grade girl crossed the finish line while others had not started their fourth lap in their mile race. No kid has had much training but the differences in native ability were huge. I loved attending the meet and I am so fortunate my granddaughter wanted to compete and asked me to attend to cheer her on. Life is good while watching a middle school track meet.
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