Posted by Howard Richman on August 13 2008 at 16:12:39:
An article in the Jackson Hole (WY) Tribune features the grandparents of a homeschooled girl who is competing in the fencing competitions at the Beijing Olympics. Here is a selection:
Bill and Pat Ward of Casper may be old school, but they used new-school technology to watch granddaughter Becca Ward compete in the Beijing Olympics.HowardBecca Ward, a member of the U.S. fencing team, won the bronze medal Saturday in women´s individual sabre. However, the event was not televised locally until early Sunday morning, so the Wards had to find another way to watch their granddaughter compete live.
"We watched it on streaming video on the computer," Pat Ward said. "It was pretty exciting. Becca was down by five touches, but she came back to win it, 15-14.
"It proved how gutsy she is."
Bill and Pat Ward are both retired and have spent the past 28 years in Casper. But the two have traveled around the word to watch Becca compete....
"She spends all her time either practicing or competing," Pat Ward said. "And when she´s not doing that, she´s getting home-schooled or she´s training."
Becca and her teammates will next compete in the team sabre event, which begins Thursday. After that, Pat said, Becca will begin preparing for the next phase of her life -- attending Duke University on a fencing scholarship.