my life with 3 Princesses

medals March 10, 2011

There are many things I have never done in my life.

One of them is to win a medal.  Not even one of those that are given to everybody for participating in something.  No not even one of those.  Am I missing something?  Will I be forever marked by this? 

To tell you the truth I don’t think so.  But I do feel that I lack a certain je ne sais quoi for anything remotely related to sport.

I recently go another wake up call to this fact, not because I needed it but it happened to confirm this fact. I was probably not aware of the extent of my limit in this respect.

A few days ago I happened to be chatting to a very sportive type of guy – sportive in the sense that he has won many medals representing this rock internationally, as well as in attitude.  So the conversation is going some thing like this:

Him: I might quit competing (in his particular sport) and will try to go for refereeing (in the same one)

Me: ah, there is refereeing in this sport too?

Him (he is too kind to look incredulous, but he nearly was looking incredulous) : every sport has a referee

Me: ah yes of course. 

So there we go.  I have another definition for me: highly unsportive.

Any one would be right to think that my lack of interest in anything that involves physical movement of any sort other than that strictly needed to survive decently must be stemming from a very lazy person.  Well, I’d like to think it all started, or better, didn’t start,when I growing up in the seventies and eighties on our little Mediterranean rock.  The only sport back then (and now, as my best friend stuck there with two teenage children insists) was football for boys.  Full stop. For girls.  Zilch.  When I was old enough already to have been put off anything involving a ball, a basketball team was created in another village.  And anyway I didn’t really like the crowd that hung around this sport.  Than a bit later a volleyball one too was born….My sister, 8 years my junior was in time for that. Lucky her.

Back to the beginning or rather to where I got my distinct antipathy for sports.  I think it must have been when I was 10 or 11.  My Physical Education teachers were females who insisted on making us wear horrible blue shorts that fitted badly even the most athletically looking of us and an equally horrible plain white t-shirt come cold or heat to our twice weekly 45-minute sessions.  I remember both these teachers wearing a navy blue circle or thereabouts skirt to the lesson!  Can you imagine what an attractive picture we were given!  Then we come to the lessons – I distinctly remember standing in our school grounds listening to all sorts of rules about basketball, volleyball and netball ad nauseam.  I also very, but very distinctly remember  being hit badly in the face by a basketball during our boring practicing of passes and that spelt the end to my interest in this game.  Volleyball is to me only the way the 6 players on each side rotate and probably also how high the net has to be and that someone in a particular position starts the game.  Netball, I remember hating because I was never chosen to play and have spent many of the biweekly sessions forced to sit to watch my class mates trying to play.  The only game I remember enjoying playing was rounders.  I think it was sort of baseball but I think we called it rounders.  I must have been pretty good at it as I was always chosen quickly to be part of the team.  Probably I was a fast runner and could hit the ball well.  But sadly that was that.  This is the extent of my sportive background. 

But hey, I have high hopes for the princesses.  With them I try to be the sportive type, showing interest in all things sportive. So I take TP and TC to swimming lessons every week.  And while watching them I dream awake of accompanying TC to competitions overseas! (I know…. I dream exaggerated!) But, really, who knows?  I guess even Micheal Phelps’ mother took him to lessons aged 4.  The girls are also enrolled in another sports session on Saturdays where they get 3 hours of different types of skills related to sports.  We chose a reputed organisation run by professionals that encourage the children along.  I try to be as open-minded as possible while to instil in them a love for striving to be better. 

Just so that I’d have said everything there is to say, there are in reality 2 types of sports…if we can call them that that I love:  The first is abseiling.  I had my very first experience with a 50 long rope in this fantastic place.  Terrible as a start but it left me longing for more.  The second is trekking.  I started this in the most beautiful mountians of the world – the Dolomites, and I feel hooked.  If I had to choose activities that I love doing… these would feature in the first 4 or 5.  So while I will never win medals for any of these, I might get a few thrills and the adrenalin pumping sensation anyway.  My next trekking trip is planned…. And that reminds me, why don’t I give the guy I trust with my life most in the world (after my man, obviously) to go for a couple of descents?