Pinewood Derby District Regionals AAR

I mentioned earlier that this past Saturday was the Lonetree District Pinewood Derby Regional races. Basically, the 22 packs in the LoneTree District send their 1^st and 2^nd place winners for each rank (Tigers, Wolves, Bears, and WeBeLoS I & II) to compete head to head. There were 36 Tiger Cubs, 76 Wolves & Bears, and 65 WeBeLoS participating in this race for a total of 177 boys.

That's an awful lot of 7-11 year old kids in one place...

Friday night was set-up, which I missed due to the Father/Daughter dance. Aw, shucks. *g* Saturday morning we arrived at 8:30AM, with the first registrants (Tigers) due to start check-in at 9. First race (Tigers) started at 10:00AM, with a generous amount of time to finish the races and get the next group (Wolves & Bears) prepped. Our Pack was pretty heavily represented in the adult volunteers (mainly because it was our track they were using!), with our Committee Chair running the software which schedules the races, our outgoing Assistant Cubmaster placing the cars on the track, and yours truly staging the cars for racing.

For, as I mentioned before, 177 boys...

The Wolves & Bears (grouped as the traditional "Cubs") presented the largest logistic hurdle - some 76 kids and parents showing up en masse to get checked in, all while we're running the first race. It took longer than expected to get everyone into the system (the folks running it only had two people at check-in!), so we lost a bit of ground there. The races ran extremely smoothly, with only one re-start due to mechanical failure on the part of one of the entries (a wheel fell off). Oh, and our esteemed Committee Chair spaced over a race and tried to blame the mis-matched cars on us, but we quickly set him straight on that... ;)

The hardest part of running the race has nothing to do with staging the races, entering the participants, or actually getting the cars down the track. The hardest part is handing the cars back to the kids at the end of each groups' race, seeing the inherent disappointment in each boy's face at the prospect of going home without the shiny trophy. These kids were the best in their Pack, coming in 1^st and 2^nd place in their own races, yet not quite up to the rest of the competition.

Heck, even the Tiger Cub who won 1^st place last year didn't even make the top four...

We stress that it's about the sportsmanship; that while there will be 1^st through 4^th place trophies, we do not call those boys "winners" (as it would imply the others are "losers"). We exhort the boys - and the parents - not to be overly triumphant if they win their particular heat. Camaraderie and good sportsmanship are stressed while competition is downplayed, all with the goal of preventing the boys from either gloating or pouting.

Needless to say, they don't buy it for a second.

The kid who comes in 76^th place after coming in first or second in his Pack's derby is going to be crushed. He was the best of his group, yet came in last in the larger competition. What's critical at that point is that *that* boy be supported just as fully as the boy who wins the first place trophy and gets his picture in the paper - that's the toughest part. We do what we can, obviously, but for the most part, it's up to the parents.

Some parents rise to the occasion, giving the official Red Sox pep talk to their boys ("Just wait 'til next year!"). Others aren't as supportive, looking to soften the blow by blaming the race conditions, the other cars, or the phases of the moon for their car's performance. Some folks take this far too seriously, losing sight of the goal of the Pinewood Derby - spending time with your son and maybe even teaching him a thing or two about tools, perseverance, and sportsmanship.

That is all.