The value of Teamwork-- Tim Vitkin

While race day can seem intimidating, it actually can be a valuable learning experience. As my first kayaking race ever, the relay that was the first thing we did in the morning was scary for me- in the end I messed up my practice and thus missed my turn as I didn't make it to my leg in time. However, this was partially due to miscommunication, and while bringing your team down because  of this is not fun, it teaches you a lot in terms of how to properly talk with your team.

As we were planning for the race on shore, what I believed my role was supposed to be was different from the beliefs of my team; they believed that I had to paddle a different leg than I thought I had to. Miscommunication strikes again. 

Since this put me down, I decided to take away some morals from my mistakes; it is these types of team errors that in the end cause massive failures when they are actually needed, for example a stressful job situation. Teamwork is key, even when it is least expected.

The idea of racing to me never involved the idea of teamwork, and the first race at keeners was actually more of a lesson on teamwork than on actual racing.