Transitions mean goodbye to Y column ...for now

A few weeks ago, I talked about transitions and we will revisit the topic one more time.

We officially moved from winter to spring and transitioned from winter sports into spring sports.

Youth soccer at the YMCA wrapped up last weekend and there were a few cold mornings, which were beautiful by the last game.

Kids started the games in hats, gloves and jackets, but usually finished in their short-sleeve shirt and and shorts.

Besides a possible sunburn, this means one other thing: Lots of lost and found.

If your child is missing a jacket, a sweatshirt, a stocking cap, it may very well be at the YMCA.

All items are taken from Barnett Park to the YMCA and placed in the coat room, where parents and kids can sort through dozens of forgotten items.

Stop by for a look…there may be something of your child’s you forgot you even had.

I’d like to say the lost and found stockpile is just limited to kid-sized items, but I picked up a forgotten adult’s jacket Saturday. So some parent or grandparent must have gotten just as warmed up watching the soccer game and needed to cool off.

Of course, we couldn’t have a soccer season without volunteer coaches, so thank you to all the 2017 spring soccer coaches: Steve Barenberg, Staci Blomstedt, Lance Franzier, Shane Hilker, Jeremy Shaw, Eric Stensvad, Sara Wood, Dusty Gaston, John Hanson, Carrie and Jon Johnson, Jessica Shepherd, Colin and Caleb Suda, Jeff Donelan, Terri Gray, Adam Heskett, Andy Long, Doug Terry, Joel Arterburn, Joel Bednar, Keith Haskin, Stu Porter, Aric Riggins, Shannon Sughroue, Glen Tietz, Ashley Walkington and Drew Wilson.

We had a great mix of coaches, from those who know soccer backwards and forwards to those who knew they just wanted to spend time with these kids.

We had volunteers who coached multiple teams, volunteers who have coached every season since their child was eligible, and volunteers who didn’t even have a child in the program but who simply wanted to help.

Thanks again for another great soccer season and now on to softball…

Another transition I mentioned recently was the transition training for triathlons.

We’ve held two triathlon training sessions at the YMCA in recent weeks to help those preparing for triathlons this summer - including the Michelle Walters’ Memorial Tri on June 24 in McCook.

But more urgently, there are several people trying their first try in North Platte this weekend.

Everyone is well prepared. They have put in the training. They know the equipment they will need.

They know how to transition from swimming to biking to running.

But there is just one thing we can try to prepare for but can do nothing about…the weather and it’s not looking ideal.

We will be exiting the pool, dripping wet as we transition on the bike, so battling the cold will be the first issue.

Rain is forecast for the next several days, so battling slick streets will be another concern.

And stiff winds are predicted all weekend, so headwinds and crosswinds will be a final unwelcome problem.

Unless the weather turns dangerous, the race will go on and we will be out in the elements, saying to ourselves, “We paid money to do this?”

Yes, we did and we will again and again.

So good luck to everyone headed to North Platte this weekend for the triathlon.

Bring an extra towel or two or three.

***

There is a final transition I did not cover in the previous column. Transitions are a natural part of life.

Sometimes you choose to transition; sometimes the transition chooses you; sometimes, it is both.

With that being said, I am transitioning at the Y.

After this week, I will no longer be the youth sports director at the Y. It has been fun, it has been challenging, it has been rewarding and it has been exhausting but it is time to move onto other endeavors, whether at the Y or somewhere else.

So this may be the last Y Notes column….or the last Y column for a while.