To an Athlete...

Alright I'm gonna get a little corny here. Deal with it.

A couple of weeks ago I pulled up behind a car at a stoplight with the vanity plate reading "YMIHERE." It's no question the first time a liscense plate has made me think with any sort of depth.

I got to thinking about what it is I am doing, right now, with my life. What events led me here? What choices of consequence had I made that led me to the profession of teaching kids the basics of movement and sport performance training?

I got to thinking of the days when I was an athlete in middle and high school. I was lucky to have a coach, Lee Taft, who introduced me to the practice of strength training, but more importantly taught me what it was to be an all-around person.

A matter of days later, I was rummaging through some old text books and I came acrossed a poem that Lee handed out to all of us during football season one year in high school. It's fairly corny, simple, but really hits the nail on the head. Here it is:

To An Athlete

There are little eyes upon you,

And they're watching night and day;

There are little ears that quickly

Take in every word you say;

There are little hands all eager

To do anything you do;

And little children who are dreamping

Of the day they'll be like you.

You're the little children's idol,

You're the wisest of the wise,

In their mind about you,

No suspicions ever rise;

Hold that all you say and do,

They will say and do, in your way

When they are grown-up just like you.

There are wide-eyed little children,
Who believe you're always right,

And their ears are always open,

And they watch each day and night;

You are setting an example

Every day in all you do,

For the little children who are waiting

To grow up and be like you.

This made me think back to the years before middle school, when the varsity athletes were exactly what this poem is describing. If you're an athlete, even only at the high school level, you can bet that there are kids out there who would love to be put in your situation.

Do you consider this when you make decisions on a day to day basis?

I was good about my decisions in high school, although there are some things I do regret.

If you had taken into account all people who can be affected by the consequences, before you made your choices, would you still have made the same choices?