Training Log Archive: barb

Billygoat lite.
Thanks PG, Gail, et al!

Lite Billygoat - Splits

Dropped some controls off in Somerville and took the long way home past the Stata Center.

We spend some time learning about the people who were killed or injured. The MIT police officer was a great guy; member of the outing club - I love his Poland-themed hike message... The 8 year old boy, that the girls supposedly had crushes on. And then we can give some money to the fund for the guy who lost both feet and has no health insurance, and to the others. But then I think we go in different directions. There are the gun advocates arguing that this is clear evidence for arming the population, and the gun control people arguing the opposite. Some of us find these events suggest that we should keep immigrants out, others that we don't provide enough support for struggling families. Some are angry - we're all angry - and feel nothing but anger and disgust, and then there are people trying to figure out why, how this could happen. That's where I am, because this kid went to the school I know and love, where my kids are enrolled, and we know people who know him, and it's incomprehensible but I want to understand.

I hope we all reach out to our neighbors and build stronger communities.

n2s

luke

story

ask R about giving back / service

cpR, first adi

the divisions, difft cultures

nned to ask m and a about watching

Sirens all night.

Just a normal kid.
Can't get my head around it.

C • Did the... 1

C • A normal kid... 1

Played mailman: delivered about 60 invitations to an open house tomorrow chez nous, to share our experience with solar hot water, Farmers To You, container gardening, composting, and chickens.

Liisa Breton is offering to provide a gourmet packed lunch at West Point as a "perk" for donors to our Junior Team. Donate here.

I'm sure you've heard the buzz about juniors this year. Thanks to a very generous donation, we were able to hire Erin Schirm for a year to coach the elite juniors and build a broad junior program in the USA. Erin has been fearless at proposing ideas and change, and he has been making it happen. So many of you and others in the community have stepped up already to help out. Sandy with that brilliant junior lounge at NAOC. The NAOC relays! Becky and Clint putting on the amazing junior training camp. The Bretons and Childses with their perks. Allen H with the Czech coach. So many more people are helping out. Maryjane tackling junior safety. Marianne helping with fundraising. The senior team members have been fantastic - welcoming at trainings and doing course reviews.

And the juniors have responded. The 24 members of the Standing Team have been talking regularly with Erin; they have training plans; they are logging on Attackpoint, and supporting each other by email and Facebook and text. They have continued meeting up at A meets. You can see them doing course reviews after races, and after doing their own they turn and help the younger kids. We want to build a community of young orienteers who are having fun, feel safe, have friends, and are motivated to train and compete. Four captains have stepped up, and one of them organized the junior course reviews in Erin's absence at the Flying Pig.

We decided to bring as many advanced juniors to Europe this summer as we could. We believe that exposure to the best young orienteers in the world, and a high level of competition, will be inspiring and educational. We believe that living and training and competing together for 3 weeks could be transformative. We are fielding a full team of men and women to JWOC this year; they will be ready. We have four alternates on each side, also training and ready to step in if necessary.

Some of these kids come from families with a single parent, or a family where the breadwinner has lost their job and is struggling economically, and looking ahead to college costs - or dealing with that now. I am scrambling to try and not let finances be a barrier to any of these kids to make it to Europe this summer. It's a special year - JWOC is set up so that spectator races are plentiful and meaningful; we can have the additional kids train alongside the JWOC team - and we have Erin; it's our first (hopefully not our last) year with him as paid coach, and I'd like us to make the most of it.

The Board has asked us to raise $5000 more than we did last year (while also giving us more -- our expenses are higher), and even that is not enough to cover the needs of the Team. Please, please believe in this team and reach into your pockets and give. You can do it on the Indiegogo crowdfunding site. You can do it at the OUSA site, and specify that the funds are for the Junior Team (or more specifically, if you like, the JWOC Team). Or you can contact me privately and help me out by taking on the expenses of one of our neediest cases. Maybe your employer can match. Maybe you can put on a local meet and send us the proceeds. Maybe you can approach a running store or some other business and ask for donations. Anything you can do would be great. But I recommend starting with a $30 donation and a wonderful lunch at West Point!

Holy mackerel, I am finding accommodation for 30 people at JWOC. This is awesome.