HOMESCHOOL ATHLETICS CARNIVAL 2012

Last week our boys participated in the Athletics carnival that was held for all Brisbane homeschoolers. The carnival was lead by the staff from Physi Kids, a physical education group that holds health & fitness classes for kindergartens, schools and community groups. They did an amazing job organising and running the program for the children that ranged in ages from 2 years to 15 years.

There were 3 weekly lead up sessions held before the big carnival to give the children a good idea of how best to participate in the sports. The sports on offer were the 80m sprint, 80m hurdles, 400m run, long jump, high jump, shotput, discus and javelin. Novelty races were also held at the end of the carnival. The good old favourites such as egg and spoon race, 3 legged race and the sack race proved to be a big hit with the littlies and the older children. Juniors participated in a special Physi kids class whilst the older children did the more serious events. They played limbo, team sports and a game of tag all to a soundtrack of fun, whimsical music.

Bailey and Dane were really looking forward to the big day in the weeks leading up to the event. They attended all the training sessions and practised at home so they could do their very best running, jumping and throwing on the day. I take them both regularly on runs around our suburb, sometimes up to 3kms at a time so I knew running the 400m wouldn't seem far for them.

Morning of the big day we lathered ourselves in sunscreen and packed our car up with the picnic table/chairs and umbrella for some shelter. I was busy baking healthy snacks for us for the day right up until the last few minutes of leaving! We arrived and were so glad the weather seemed to be holding out for us. The oval was filled with families arriving, setting up their trackside spots for the day and getting kids ushered to the running track for the first events. I told the boys that as long as they tried their very best I would be extremely proud of them. Dane was determined he was going to get at least one ribbon for the day!

Bailey did very well in all his events. His age group was probably the most competitive, filled with many boys keen to give their best. He ended up winning the sack race, placing second in one of the throwing events (he cannot remember which one) and placing third in the 400m.

Dane proved to be a total over-achiever! He placed first in the long jump, high jump, discus and javelin. He placed second in the sprint, hurdles and 400m run. He was very thrilled with his success on the day and delighted to place his collection of ribbons up on the fridge for all to see.

Our family really enjoyed the carnival and hope that the community can come together again next year for another event. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to keep Ehren away from the big kids running events next time though, he's busy practising for now and tells me he can do it too!