Just got an e-mailed letter from USA Archery from last month's selection camp for the Compound Junior Dream Team. It was not a good letter, our daughter was not named to the team or named as an alternate. The one consolation is that she's been invited to train with the team at future camps.

We've broken the news to her and she teared up at first and then asked us if she could still compete at Outdoor Nationals this summer. Of course we told her we were still planning on it.

At this point I think I'm more disappointed than she is. We don't know the full list of the team yet, but will probably know more tomorrow night when she has her training session with our coach. Our daughter is happy that one of the friends she made at camp from Colorado was named to the team as an alternate.

So now it's off to the family room for what we've started to call Mystery Hallmark Theater 3000. Christmas specials on the Hallmark channel with snarky commentary from our daughter.

That sucks - but often adversity makes a champion that much stronger and determined.

Tough news... but we've seen from her many times that she takes setbacks and uses them as stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks.

Sorry to hear that. However, countless star athletes have overcome being cut from the team and here are 13 examples (including Hall of Famers).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tatortodd,

I'm sorry that the news was not good!

I am even more proud of Maya's response to the obvious disappointment: "Can I still compete in the Outdoor Nationals next summer?" Further proof that she is mature beyond her years.

Tell her for me that her "Uncle Don" up in Spokane is proud of her efforts and her spirit!

Her day will come, and I wager it will be sooner rather than a distant "later"!

I know that you as a coach will be getting more information, perhaps quite a bit later, as to what the reasons might have been. I'm sure we all will be interested in the criteria for selection!

Don

She shot well. I presume from your posts in the original thread that she was happy with her performance on the line.

Do you suppose the PT aspect of it might have been a factor (which seemed to be the only part she wasn't confident about), or was it just one of those situations where it's not good enough to be in the top ten when only the top five make the cut sort of thing?

Glad to hear she's eager to keep going.

Also, if I lived nearby, I'd be asking about tickets to MHT3K. Mrs.BurtonRW and I load up the DVR with both Hallmark channels' offerings this time of year just to see how many we can get through without developing diabetes. I'm sure they're much better with some Maya thrown in for color.

-Rob

She’ll be fine I sure. While we all want the utmost and best outcome iirc you’d mentioned she was the youngest at the tryouts. A little more maturity, a couple more years then the selection will be hers

She competed with the best of the best. That’s an achievement all in itself

Based on your description of interaction within the sport, I have no doubt the top tier shooters will continue to mentor her

quote:

Originally posted by snwghst:
She’ll be fine I sure. While we all want the utmost and best outcome iirc you’d mentioned she was the youngest at the tryouts. A little more maturity, a couple more years then the selection will be jets

She competes with the best of the best. That’s an achievement all in itself

Spot on! Her time will come.

I'm proud of the kid. She definitely left it all out on the field and held nothing back. We'll know more tonight after meeting with her coach. I really have no idea what the coaching staff was looking for in filling slots for the team.

For me it just feels like a punch in the gut. Knowing that she was doing so well and feeling confident she would at least get an invite as an alternate. Now the reality of her not making the cut really stings. The Little League dad in me wants to come out and tell her beat every last one of the team members at Vegas and Nationals and make the coaches regret their decision, but that's not healthy at all.

I've always said that I was thankful for my daughter's involvement in archery for teaching her lessons in life. One needs to learn how to deal with defeat as well as how to deal with victory. It was a lesson I thought I had learned, evidently my daughter has some things to teach me.

Eye on the prize. That smile is everything about it all.

quote:

Originally posted by ffips:

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:

This is the BEST part of it all! Thank you for sharing. Best of luck you Miss Maya.

Look for the silver lining: Your daughterwill learn from this and grow stronger.

How many snowflakes out there simply cannot deal with rejection, lack the character and inner strength to recover from failure? Your kid isn't one of those and will never be.

She's going to bounce back stronger than ever. And she has time, lots of time, to make the next team.

God bless her! Lots of us here are rooting for her, and love and care for her.

As you know and as others have said: It is part of the growth process. Her future is bright

I'm guessing I'm not the only one who wants to know more......

What's the word from the grapevine or the other Coaches......??

I do realize that your amazing daughter will get her day soon.

All the best.

Andrew

I'll echo El Cid - Maya's turn is coming. It can't help but do so for someone so dedicated and excellent.

Props to her for taking the disappointment well. It is a true sign of her maturity that she did not dwell on it and shifted her focus onto the next step in her journey upward. You have an amazing daughter, sir.

We've heard quite a bit of things from the selection process that I really can't discuss on a public forum. I'll just say that I never expected to have a conversation with a 12 year old that sometimes in life, politics means more than performance.

I'm sorry to hear that, but hardly surprised in our present world

What a damned shame that this can happen in a sport where how close you can get to the center of the bullseye, a measurable phenomenon, can be corrupted as has happened to pursuits like gymnastics, where "judges" get to "score" your efforts...

Maya will still overcome this hurdle in due time!
I have faith

Keep doing what you've been doing Mom and Dad, because you have your daughter on the right path in life.

Don

quote:

Originally posted by 2000Z-71:
... I'll just say that I never expected to have a conversation with a 12 year old that most times sometimes in life, politics means more than performance.

My opinion.

So sorry about the news but I am convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, that she will persevere and in the end her victory will be all the sweeter knowing the work she has put into it.

She's got a little bit of a chip on her shoulder now going into Vegas and Indoor Nationals. I almost feel sorry for her competition.