New Year, New Expectations

So the team has gone through its own changes through the years: some good, some bad. Upholding the New Year's tradition, let's reflect on this past year.
The team started off strong. We had over 25 people at our interest meeting. About 17 of these students showed up to our actual first meeting. We had some even distribution of males and females on the team and, for the most part, everyone seemed to be getting along just fine. We had several returning veterans, myself among them. Unfortunately, due to Paradise's disappearance, we are unable to letter this year due to a lack of competition to compete in (DCL being gone and all). We have, however, compensated to some degree with our semi-regular visits to Rock'n and Jam'n and the several of our climbers have competed in some of the Spotlight Bouldering Series comps.
But all did not continue as we would have liked. Several of our members could not seem to find the motivation necessary to keep their grades up where they needed to be, and were therefore cut from the team. Attendance became a problem soon after. So, in the best interests of the team, a decision was made. The team was put on hiatus for the last two weeks of the first term, putting an end to practices until the 17th of November. Once practice resumed, the team was approached with a different mindset. We lost more members and are down to our usual rag-tag group of teens, with a minuscule amount of females on the team. Team spirit, on the other hand, has definitely increased and I can attest to some evidence of team bonding happening (aw, how touching XD).
Our yoga practices have been wonderful and we've been testing some new ground, particularly with Shiva Ray (sp?). Our most intense workout was an upper body routine by Shiva and I have to say I was not the only one groaning at the end. So what did we do? Waited a couple of days and did another workout of course!! The lower body routine was not as intense or physically exhausting, but it was fun all the same. Yoga keeps us all humble in the physical sense, that's for sure.

As the new year approaches, I will admit I am a little apprehensive as to what will become of our beloved team. I remember my first year on the team. Ah, now that was a team. Everyone was close enough to know each other and no one was afraid to be who they were (even if the rest of us begged them not to show us...). I hope the team can regain what was there when I joined this team. As a member of this team, of this family, I am going to put my best foot forward and try to instill some of what I feel was lost over the last couple of years. I invite my fellow team members to join me in this pursuit and build something we can all remember with fond memories for years to come. Happy New Year guys.