Teaching others

Today was a pretty good day.  I had the opportunity to demonstrate a sport I coach to 19 at-risk girls.  For this particular program, I'm not sure how "at risk" is exactly defined...but I can guess these girls came from dysfunctional (maybe non existance?) homes, low-income, and probably very little support systems.  These girls were 9th and 10th graders and were interested in possibly pursuing a degree in some health related field after finishing high school. In any case, after showing a 10 minute video of the sport (this is a sport that the majority of the girls never would have seen before), I got them equipped up and playing.  As with many groups like this, some girls only wanted to play one game while others enjoyed playing over and over and over.  Overall, I think (and hope) most of them had a good time.  I know I did. I did have to wonder, once we finished and the girls had left, what struggles these girls face on a day to day basis that classified them as "at-risk".  Most of the girls seemed delightful.  They easily laughed at themselves and each other as they attempted to play...and they were proud of themselves as their game improved over the 2 hour period.  They seemed to enjoy each other company and were respectful to me and their teachers.  I hope that today's session will play just a tiny part in their ability to overcome their challenges and that they will eventually eneter college in 2-3 years and eventually earn a degree.