Cuda Awards Ceremony

The night was upon us. We were ready to attend the ceremony. It was given much fan fare and we prepared with much anticipation. I was there to act as the Paparazzi, taking non-stop pictures of the stars as they performed and received their awards. This was a night to honor our stars and celebrate the season. That is exactly what we did. What a night.

The season was a huge success for our Cudas. The team ended with a win to loss ratio of 4 to 1. We swept the divisional meet. Our kids were shinning. The coaches were honored and the scores revealed.

The Jr coached treated us with a huge surprise. They had created a song that summed up the season. The performance was outstanding. I swelled with pride. Most of the creation of the song was from Goobers. She did a great job with the words and with putting all the ideas together from all the other coaches. It was so cute. The parents stood as they ended. They performed it so well.

Then we moved into the awards. Each age group was called to the stage. Every single child got their own award from the season and then four special ones were given out. The most Improved Swimmer, High Point Winner, Most Spirited Cuda, and the Heart of the Cudas were given out in each age group. I was there to take pictures as each age group was given awards. They went from youngest to oldest.

Princess was beaming. Bagel received a trophy but didn't join the others on stage. That was only appropriate considering she never swam in a meet. Pickle was one of the high point receivers but not the highest. He did win the Heart of the Cudas Award. The next two really were the heart of the entire team and not just their age groups. Moogie and Sugar did not leave with any extra acknowledgement but they were there every day offering 101%They were not given the official awards but I don't think it would have been fair if the T family won in every age group. They sure had tons of fun. Moogie and Sugar were happy to be a part of their teams. Bear took the award of Most Spirited and then so did Goobers. Next it was Pookers big win. She also was a contender for high point but was awarded the Heart of the Cudas.

Pooker's group was the last group. As her group walked off the stage she grabbed the mike. No one knew if she was supposed to have it or not. She decided to give an impromptu acceptance speech. I was surprised that no one cut her mike as she thanked all the Cudas for joining her in her last season, she thanked the coaches for all their hard work, she thanked all the parents for all the volunteer hours they put in to make the team work and then she thanked her Father and I. It was a crazy moment but J and I both were very proud of her.

Then the mike was returned to the rightful speaker. Next thing to do was to pass out the Cuda Scholarships. Pooker made us very proud again as she received this one time cash award that she will apply to her college costs. The group of seniors all had tears in their eyes as they left the stage. This was it for them.

The night ended with a wonderful video tribute to the 2009 Winning Cuda Season. This was a beautifully done creation that put interviews and commentary to music. It looked professional and each of the swimmers loved it. Dad and I again had that moment to swell with pride. Bear was the director and editor of this creation. As the night ended and everyone left we received complement after complement on the high quality of this creation. We were so surprised and pleased as well. Bear just might have a future working within this type of field, he is extremely talented. He might never be an Olympic swimmer but swimming just might have introduced him to his calling through the creation of this video.

(I hope to add video soon.)

What a night!! It took me an entire week to take in the glory and write about it. I am so thankful that the children had this outlet and were able to discover so much about themselves this year. It was also fantastic that Pooker got to go out with a bang. Way to go Cudas!!!! We love you all. Now where are we going to put all those awards?