Hello again!!
Last time I said I would be talking about how does an individual get into throwing and I thought I would add in my own personal experiences too.
To begin how does an individual get into throwing?
In most cases children grow up wanting to run, wanting to run in the 100m final at the Summer Olympics. Now the percentage of children who grow up to be world class sprinters is very low, however, if they are introduced to other events such as long distance running, jumping and throwing their chances increase, not by much, but they still increase. Being introduced to track and field events is usually dependent on the child’s parents and teachers. At a young age children are not aware of all the possibly events in track and field.
In grade school students get exposed to the different events, more specifically running and horizontal jumps. Vertical jumping and throwing is usually not introduced until high school. Even in high school if they do not have the equipment or the coaching staff some events cannot or are not made accessible for the athletes.
At the end of grade school and the beginning of high school this is generally when kids begin to start specializing in events. By this time if they are really into an event or group of events they can join a club team. Clubs usually have coaches in all event groups and are highly skilled and knowledgeable.
My personal experience was that in grade school I was introduced to throwing Shot Put. My gym teacher thought it would be a good idea for me to try it out and I did pretty well. When it came to high school I played soccer my first year and didn’t even think twice about track. In my second year I decided to give track another try because soccer was getting a little hard on the knees. I competed and qualified for OFSAA, myself and two others from my school were the only ones who went. This was when I fell in love with throwing. You get to miss school because of meets, you get to practice outdoors in the sun for a couple hours each day, and when you’re at meets you get to meet people from all over and compete against people who are better than you, pushing you to try and win to be one better. It’s addicting to say the least. The adrenaline of the sport, walking into the circle or on to the run way everything goes quiet, and you focus. You body goes almost numb all you’re doing is focusing on the goal, the proper technique the finish... and then you go. You don’t think about it anymore you just do it. Safely exit the circle or run way and wait for the distance... This might be one of the most nerve racking experiences of your life depending on the competition. You generally know if it’s a good throw, but even then it is hard to judge the distance. Then the official reads the distance aloud (it's further than anything you have ever throw before, maybe it's breaking a school record, a meet record or maybe it is just your best throw of all time). You get filled with this over whelming emotion, it’s unbelievable, you jump for joy, some might cry others high five and some just stand there with their mouths open in awe. That’s one of the best feelings you can ever experience. I hope that each and everyone one of you has the change to experience something like that in the future or already has. It's something you will never forget.
In most cases children grow up wanting to run, wanting to run in the 100m final at the Summer Olympics. Now the percentage of children who grow up to be world class sprinters is very low, however, if they are introduced to other events such as long distance running, jumping and throwing their chances increase, not by much, but they still increase. Being introduced to track and field events is usually dependent on the child’s parents and teachers. At a young age children are not aware of all the possibly events in track and field.
In grade school students get exposed to the different events, more specifically running and horizontal jumps. Vertical jumping and throwing is usually not introduced until high school. Even in high school if they do not have the equipment or the coaching staff some events cannot or are not made accessible for the athletes.
At the end of grade school and the beginning of high school this is generally when kids begin to start specializing in events. By this time if they are really into an event or group of events they can join a club team. Clubs usually have coaches in all event groups and are highly skilled and knowledgeable.
My personal experience was that in grade school I was introduced to throwing Shot Put. My gym teacher thought it would be a good idea for me to try it out and I did pretty well. When it came to high school I played soccer my first year and didn’t even think twice about track. In my second year I decided to give track another try because soccer was getting a little hard on the knees. I competed and qualified for OFSAA, myself and two others from my school were the only ones who went. This was when I fell in love with throwing. You get to miss school because of meets, you get to practice outdoors in the sun for a couple hours each day, and when you’re at meets you get to meet people from all over and compete against people who are better than you, pushing you to try and win to be one better. It’s addicting to say the least. The adrenaline of the sport, walking into the circle or on to the run way everything goes quiet, and you focus. You body goes almost numb all you’re doing is focusing on the goal, the proper technique the finish... and then you go. You don’t think about it anymore you just do it. Safely exit the circle or run way and wait for the distance... This might be one of the most nerve racking experiences of your life depending on the competition. You generally know if it’s a good throw, but even then it is hard to judge the distance. Then the official reads the distance aloud (it's further than anything you have ever throw before, maybe it's breaking a school record, a meet record or maybe it is just your best throw of all time). You get filled with this over whelming emotion, it’s unbelievable, you jump for joy, some might cry others high five and some just stand there with their mouths open in awe. That’s one of the best feelings you can ever experience. I hope that each and everyone one of you has the change to experience something like that in the future or already has. It's something you will never forget.
Next time I plan to talk more in depth about who the Windsor Lancer Throwers are and what they’re trying to accomplish this CIS season.
---throwergirl :)
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