Odyssey of the Heart

I know, sounds corny, but I had the BEST experience this year with my Odyssey of the Mind team! For those of you that don't know what Odyssey IS, check out their website and get a team GOING! (http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/) I personally have been the coordinator for the coaches and teams in my district for about 5 years now and even helped out with spontaneous for a while before that. This was my very first year as a full time coach and it was great!

Our team didn't place in the top 5, but WOW, what a group! They've been at this since September, all of them new to the experience, but did the best performance they've ever done in their lives and supported each other like true champions the whole way. We won in our regional tournament and went on to the New York State Tournament. We were like country mice in Times Square...everything was so big and glamorous and amazing on the SUNY Binghamton campus. They did the spontaneous event at a mind blowing 8:19 in the morning (mind blowing for folks like ME who couldn't sleep a WINK from excitement!) and did their long term problem in the afternoon. All day long, they watched other groups and were astonished with their presentations.

Finally, at the award ceremony,they sat holding hands nervously in a group at the awards (even the BOYS!). Worried about their feelings, I asked them "What do we do if we DON'T place?"

One of the girls said "Scream and yell for the teams that DO!"

I added, "Promise me, too, that no matter WHAT that we'll do the same thing whether we place or don't...we figure out what to do to make it better next year.'

They promised and DID JUST THAT...no crying scenes, no pouting fits, just good kids happy to have made it this far. We had pizza, talked about how cool all the events were, then went to bed, got back up and took our bus back to Lockport. Even the parents were wonderful! A bunch of them even hugged me and thanked me at the end, plus they gave the kids money to buy pins for me, the Highlander and the other coach (the cool blinky kind that I love that blind you when you look right at 'em...woo HOOO!!!)

I have TRULY been blessed, folks! :-D

D.