NAshville Youth  Athletics

It is a bittersweet announcement that I have to make but change is inevitable and must be welcomed if we are to keep growing.  After 10 dedicated years to NYA we have decided to pull back our offerings.  We will no longer be hosting XC and track meets for the youth of Nashville.

 

While we are confident in our work, bringing the sport of distance running to a much wider audience than was ever available in Nashville, we also have a deep passion for our public school, MLK.  We will be dedicating our time to them for now. This has been a labor of love from my family.  They have sacrificed their weekends and evenings to help me, always a source of support, especially when things got hard.  I will forever be grateful to them for everything they have done!

 

And I am grateful to all of you! For believing in our program, for showing up every week, year after year, for your kind words of support, and for the time you gave to help this grow.  XC would not have grown in our area without you all.  It is exploding now, so much so that more and more associations and groups are popping up all the time. My mission from day one was to offer a program for EVERYONE, no matter your school, your background, or your financial situation, all were invited to take part. We saw our community grow and connect through this sport. We have followed your kids from little bright-eyed elementary schoolers to amazing adults out there changing the world.   Y'all, there is no gift quite like that, and the gravity is not lost on us. If you have the opportunity to be a touch point in some young person's life, take it, and treat it as the precious gift it is.

 

Remember as you move on, that there are organizations out there that do it well, for the right reasons, and with the kids at the center of all they do.  Look for those people and organizations. Youth sports are about life skills, not blue ribbons.  There are no scouts promising you a lifetime of wealth and fame at the finish line. What's at that finish line is a lesson about what hard work can do.  About what it means to be part of a team. About contributing to something larger than yourself. Ribbons fade, those lessons do not.  

 

Thank you all for being my supporters, my friends, and my teachers. Stay in touch and check in now and again! I am sure we are not completely done hosting races! 

 

Lots of love,

Hollee