ABS youth Nationals 2011

we just got back from the 2011 ABS nationals in boulder colorado. i love boulder. it is so fun to go to the hub of our industry and community and see all your friends. no where else will you get to see all the top pros but also have them so accessible to the kids. i loved seeing my kids running around trying to get autographs of the rock climbing royalty.

first let me say how proud of my team i am. they did a wonderful job and really displayed what i expect as fine young people. a few of them had a rough weekend but overall it was an ok result and we were happy with it.
let me say that this was a really spectacular event. everything from the venue to the routesetting to the judging and climbing. there was not really anything i found lame.

the venue was amazing. i cannot picture holding this event in a gym any more. the rented wharehouse provided great spectating and a terrific show. it allowed for the 22' tall walls to really display what these kids have been training for.
i also loved the off site warm up. we were able to warm our kids up any of the numerous gyms in boulder. it allowed us as coaches to work with the running clock and not have to worry about 15 kids at once. i feel that the tension of a standard warm up and iso situation was eliminated by this. our kids came out strong and confident with little to worry about except the routes.

the routesetting, wonderful. i really appreciate what these guys went through to make this happen. they seperated the categories equally and provided a great show. nothing is harder to do then set for children and these guys did a great job. a handful of years ago you would have never seen such dynamic climbing set for the little ones and this weekend they were flying all over the place.
one thing you will always hear at youth events is "REACHY!" people love to use this as an excuse for their kids and in turn, set their kids up to look for excuses in their lives instead of dealing with the problems at hand. my point is proven at every event. show me a reachy move and i will show you brooke raboutou or shawn raboutou. or even more so, ashima shiraishi. these kids are the very close to the shortest in the categories and they placed in the top and crushed all problems and stole the show. please dont ever use the word reachy when these kids work around their height and show the world what is possible.

this event showcased what is happening in our sport. the kids are getting stronger younger. they are getting way more fine tuned than you have ever seen. what is possible has been realized and what will come isnt even in our sites.
we as coaches are very fortunate to be working with these kids. i have been running this team for 10 seasons now and if you had asked me what was possible even a few years ago, i couldnt have even come close to telling you that you would have seen this level this past weekend.i cannot wait to see this in a few years. i have realized what we need to do and what changes need to be made. i cannot wait to implement this and try to stay in the top running. a third place over all finish is good, but after winning the championship the last 3 years it stings a little. time for a change.

thank you USAC and everyone involved. this has come so far and can only get better.