“She actually exceeded my expectations in terms of where she placed among the other competitors.”
I’m no expert, but one of the first things I learned with my young daughter about track is that where “she placed” is not important. What is important, how did she run compared to her PR (Personal Record) her PR and not that of others is the only thing important. As for my daughter, yes, she loves to win, but what is most important is how she ran, what she did right, what can be improved…it’s like a race with yourself, and the others around you are only props to give you an extra push.
When my daughter races, if/when she gets 1st, yes, she is very happy, but, in any race, if she can beat or match her PR, whether she got 1st or not, we REALLY get excited!
At this point, neither of you have really much idea of her potential…like others have said, just go with it, let her learn and enjoy.
I have a 13 year old daughter, and we both had to learn to slow down, and just do it as you can, and if it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing.
Just my 2 cents…
I wish your daughter the very best, you both will have a great time with this…who knows, next year track may be her favorite sport!
Rick
Thanks. The reason I said where she placed was because she has no times (even in practice) and I kind of thought her times might actually be a little better than they were. Now she has times and can focus on that.