As soon as I had a child, he became the priority. Now, I fit my training around him. I've changed as an athlete.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Maybe it's oldest-child syndrome, but I have always been competitive, even as a kid with sports. It spills into my career.
As a father, my first priority is to help my sons set and attain personal goals so they will develop self-confidence and individual strength. Engaging in regular fitness activities with my children helps me fulfill those responsibilities.
I was an athlete when I was growing up.
My children see me being coach enough. I gotta make sure they see me being dad.
I think when you are the parents of a gifted athlete, the best thing in the world you can do is to encourage them, in my opinion. My dad didn't push me and I didn't push my children in athletics.
From when I was 7 until I was 22, I played football. That was always my struggle as a kid. I always wanted to be an artist, but my parents were divorced, and my dad really wanted me to play sports, and that's how I got to see him. He would come pick me up or take me to practice, and he was always at my games.
If you look at any superior athlete, you will find a strong parental influence. Parents introduce their children to a sport, and then they support them.
It is not the time spent with the child at their activity that is going to produce the highest level athlete. It is in supporting the child in an organized activity - and Bill alluded to this - so the child can find what they truly like to do and let them go.
When I was in first grade, the kids called me 'fatso.' It hurt, but the way I overcame it was to outrun every kid in the class. So I developed a thick skin, and athletics became my way of performing and being accepted.
My son is my routine and priority, period!
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