This has been a break out year for The Girl. Though years training and watching us compete, she is now coming into her own and finding her athletic niche. In addition to her time training in the gym with us, this past spring she started throwing shot and discus. She quickly learned that she is pretty good at them, enjoys doing it and has found her competitive spirit.

This summer she has decided to step up her game a bit and compete in USA Track & Field (USATF) meets, start learning HOW to throw and is working with a weightlifting coach as well. She has hopes of also competing in a USA Weightlifting meet this fall, however a decision for that will be made as the meet draws near.

At this stage of the game, it is obvious that her strength is carrying her to success and she reports wanting to transition from good to great. This transition is proving to consume an extensive amount of time and commitment that in some ways I believe is too much for her age. However, as long as she wants to ride this ride, we will be there supporting her and mitigating the compromises and sacrifices. If tomorrow she wants off this ride, that is a decision she has full control over.

Until this point this series has focused on The Girl and her athletic plans/training.  The obvious reason for that is I have been in charge of her training and taking her to her throws and weightlifting coaches.  The other component is she is not a teen age boy.  I try to provide space with The Boy because it I know it is difficult for him to have a mom stronger than him AND well, I am also The Crazy Mom.

I am the mom who is the loudest (and craziest) advocate for her kids. I am also the mom who is overly critical probably to a fault and demands excellence from my kids in whatever path they choose to follow. The hardest part about being mom of a teen age boy is mitigating the influence of Crazy Mom in our daily interactions.

This story isn't about me, though. This story began about four years ago when The Boy stopped playing football. He played football for six years when he decided to stop. He didn't find joy in what he was doing and felt it was time to move on . At the time he was pushed into playing both lines and he hated it. He also kicked and he had found his love. The passion for kicking at that time wasn't strong enough to keep him engaged and to mitigate the negative messages he was internalizing.  It was his decision to make and we fully understood why he needed to move on.

Last season we strongly encouraged that he get back into football transitioning into high school, which also happens to be the largest high school in the state. Let's just say the first season back was terrible for him.  All summer long leading into the season he was there training each and every day. He found himself back on his despised o line and got a minuscule amount of playing time.  The only beacon of light was kicking and he didn't make the cut.

All season long he sat hopeful on the side lines that he would somehow get his chance and held firm in his belief that he was part of something greater than just himself.  SOMEHOW he could achieve his goals. SOMEONE had to believe in him.

The day the season was over, he sat down to talk with us. He was angry and set out on his own path of self improvement. Despite some negative feedback and pressure, The Boy knew his only option for significant and dramatic improvement was training with Big Bald. His goal was to transform himself returning the next season.  The Boy began kicking three days per week and would run from the gym right to the park with his giant bag of footballs to put in his time.

His reward was to begin working one on one with an elite level kicking coach. Through the off season he never wavered once, this was his path to redemption.  The Boy was on a mission with his only goal of being starting J.V Kicker. Everything else was irrelevant.

Stick with me on this....click to continue to part 2.



Every entry I make about the kids refers to them as "The Boy" and "The Girl". This is done for online search anonymity and to protect them from the ramblings of a crazy mother.


 


 


Previous Installments:


Plan For Athletic Domination: https://www.elitefts.com/training-logs/passing-the-baton-plan-for-athletic-domination/


Simply Say, "Thank You": https://www.elitefts.com/training-logs/passing-the-baton-simply-say-thank-you/


Tangible Incentives/Rewards: http://www.elitefts.com/training-logs/passing-the-baton-tangible-incentivesrewards/