‘If you always do what you always did, then you’ll always get what you always got’. WOODY

Like making excuses for an errant child I feel I have to apologize once again for the temperamental internet up here. It has slowed me up and kicked me off and left me wondering ‘why’ at times, but it is what it is, so tonight I’m going to try and write this a bit earlier and see what happens.

The first day of competition is over and we are all tied up at 3 a piece as we head into the main day tomorrow. The 16s and 11s are competing over at Kawaga and the 13s are here at CM. We played hockey and tennis today and we appeared a lot more adept at tennis than hockey. At one point it looked as if we might end the day 4-2 ahead, but 3-3 is probably a fair reflection of events thus far. So there is everything to play for!

Someone once asked me if I thought competition was good for the boys. ‘Of course it is’, I replied, as if there was something wrong with competition. ‘But isn’t it bad for morale if they lose?’, I was asked. ‘Maybe’, I said, ‘but what if we win?’. And therein lies the problem with the new way of looking at competition and its place in the raising of children and the school curriculum. Do we deny them (the children) the opportunity to learn from defeat and to revel in victory? Do we pretend that these things don’t happen, be it on the sports field or the exam room or even in human relationships? It happens and it would be remiss of us not to teach the boys about it. Victory and winning tastes so much better, so I hope I have good news to bring you tomorrow night. But win or lose we will learn a lot about ourselves over the next 24 hours.

And win or lose all will be well, so safely rest.

Goodnight everybody.

As ever…WOODY!