Encouraging words

This year my daughter has decided to give Cross Country a try at school.  


She is pretty athletic so I try to encourage her to give 100 % to whatever sport she happens to be playing at the time.


But this sport is different, well I should say it is different from the other sports she has done.  


She has a great relationship with her coaches, and her teammates seem to make a point of cheering each other on instead of beating each other down.  This isn't to say her other sports were bad experiences because they weren't, everything she does, she genuinely likes to do.  It's just that this group of kids and coaches have been so encouraging.


I overheard some girls talking about how much better they feel if the coaches encourage them with kindness instead of yelling at them about what they are doing wrong or could even do better.


While everyone wants to succeed, isn't it nice sometimes to just do something because it's fun.  What happen to that in sports?  Everything seems to be so competitive.  Kids should not be stressed about sports.  It is suppose to be fun.  Remember fun?  


I remember when we went for her physical and the Dr. asked her what sport she was doing.  When she said Cross country, the Dr. said how she loved Cross Country because there was such a camaraderie with the kids who ran.  They seemed to encourage each other, really build each other up.


What a difference words can make.  


They have the power to build us up or knock us down.