Why Compete?
Pablo wants nothing to do with this.
Last year, this 13 year-old was happily riding his small motorcycle around the trails of his hometown, Fraga, Spain. A local coach thought that Pablo might make a good kayak athlete. Right now, I am pretty sure Pablo wishes that he was on his motorcycle.
Instead, Pablo is being gently and supportively guided — or coerced — by his canoeing clubmates from Fraga, which happens to include two of Spain’s top kayak athletes.
For the moment, Pablo is content and safe, just not happy. He sits in a purple racing kayak, floating in a perfectly calm spot of the river shielded from the swift and pushy river current that flows past him just a few feet away.
Pablo wears a protective helmet, a personal flotation device, a nylon paddling jacket to stay warm, and a sprayskirt, which he wears around his waist to seal off water from entering inside his kayak. But, Pablo is not going anywhere any time soon. He is nervous. Very nervous.
He carefully examines the river currents and ensuing three foot drop-off for the next 40 minutes without moving a muscle.
This final day of practice before the season’s first race, the Spanish Cup, sees a wide variety of competitive stories taking shape. For a few of the Spanish National Team athletes in attendance, this competition provides a “first check-in” to how their training is going.
For a few others, this competition begins the qualification process to gain entry into the Spanish National Team selection races which will begin 10 weeks from now and chooses which athletes will represent Spain in international competition later this summer.
But, most of the competitors are developing young athletes. This an extraordinary opportunity to test themselves under pressure. They experience what happens when they put themselves in front of rules they did not create and forces that they cannot completely control. They are guaranteed to feel some discomfort, perhaps like they have never felt before. Nervousness, doubt, and fear will be their constant companions.
Pablo is in this final group.
The athletes and coaches from the Fraga club try every encouraging tactic in the book. Finally, something seems to click as there is some anxious movement where Pablo has been floating for 40 minutes. He had been sitting back in his kayak in nearly a reclining chair position. Pablo now sits tall. He looks nervous but equally intent.
Pablo’s purple kayak follows one his clubmates out of the calm water and into the river current. Four big paddle strokes, with his arms fully extended forward, Pablo plunges into the bottom of the first drop. As the purple kayak rises to the surface, Pablo pushes out another four strokes and plunges off the second smaller drop.
Like a competitor.
The Spanish athletes who have been eating lunch along the riverbank erupt in cheers.
Pablo’s outcome is a reminder that true competition invites us to learn challenging lessons under conditions of complete vulnerability. Anything less shortchanges the spirit of competition.
A few minutes later, one of the national team athletes and I review video of the practice run she just made through the course. We both look at the iPhone screen to refine the small details of her technique when something catches my eye.
Here comes Pablo shooting down the course without hesitation. He blows right by the calm spot where he spent the better part of the last hour. Purposeful paddle strokes, clear intention, and his arms fully extended forward as he plunges over and through the first drop.
A true champion never stops learning.
With gratitude,
-Joe
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