Did you know Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra are married?
This morning I watched a Livestream event on Facebook put on by a coworker of mine out in Los Angeles. He has constructed a really fantastic Thought-Leadership series and may inspire me to develop one.
The event was an interview with Nomar Garciaparra and Mia Hamm focused on sports parenting. I'm not a parent, but I've had two fantastic sports parents and I continually pay attention to this subject.
Now, I have to confess -- as I listened I was constantly thinking, "My goodness, those two are SO on the same page! It's like they've discussed all these ideas before."
Right - I had no clue they were married.
Mia was talking about growing up and her dad learning the sport with her. He wasn't an expert in soccer and didn't teach her soccer skills. For sure, this was the same situation with my dad.
I am the only person in my family that has run competitively. If you check out my Facebook cover photo right now you will quickly understand and be convinced! I started running when I was ten years old and really got into the sport in high school. I'd have a cross-country race and my dad would ask what time I ran. Mid-season when I said 20:04, he would ask why I hadn't run faster than the previous race. He asked in a totally curious way, not with a questioning tone. I explained to my dad that the course was mushy. He was expressing interest and I was happy and proud that he was listening, paying attention, and trying to learn. He really knew nothing about cross-country and wasn't sure why I was so into putting my left foot in front of my right. Late season would roll around and I'd finish in 19:36. He'd give me a pat on the back and ask how I'd run so much faster. I'd explain to him that there was better competition, I'd gotten in a bit more training, we ran our first mile in 6:18 instead of 6:34, and I started my push to the finish at 600m out instead of 400m. The championship season would come and he'd ask me the game plan going into it. I would tell him what my goals, expectations, and strategy were for me and my teammates for districts, regionals, and State. We'd debrief after each race. In that debrief, it was again him listening and asking a couple curious questions to understand the new-to-him sport, how team points worked, and me telling him my perspective.
By the time I was a senior in high school, I was more impressed by my dad and could feel his love and proudness when he asked questions that made it evident how much he'd been paying attention to me and even possibly looking up a thing or two. He would ask me if Hilary or Kelly would be a the meet. He would ask me what kind of course the race was going to be on and if it would be a fast start or a pretty steady race. He let me do the talking. Mia Hamm explained a similar scenario of her dad's learning as time passed and she progressed.
It's got to be tough if you're a parent and you're watching your son or daughter do a sport that you know very well. It's hard to not critique or ask "Why did you do that move?" or "Why didn't you do -this idea- instead?" or to question what a coach's plans were.
Thanks Mia for talking about your dad and helping me more strongly realize how my dad was a really good parent when it came to sports even though he knew nothing about cross-country! It sounds like both guys were good sports parents ...and we as athletes are thankful.
My mom - oh, don't you worry - she's part 2 of this blog.
Who remembers what she yelled at me during a race?!
Maybe I'll be a parent one day...
Facebook Livestream video was posted on Positive Coaching Alliance on April 12th at 9:26pm.
In case you didn't grow-up watching Mia Hamm: http://hersportscorner.com/mia-hamm/
This morning I watched a Livestream event on Facebook put on by a coworker of mine out in Los Angeles. He has constructed a really fantastic Thought-Leadership series and may inspire me to develop one.
(Calling in Tampa: Derek Jeter, Jeff Cathey, Charlie Strong, Colleen Healy, Army Leroy, Tony Prado, the LaPortas, Jay Trezevant, Tyler Cathey, Andrew Wright, and I have so many more of you in mind...)
The event was an interview with Nomar Garciaparra and Mia Hamm focused on sports parenting. I'm not a parent, but I've had two fantastic sports parents and I continually pay attention to this subject.
Now, I have to confess -- as I listened I was constantly thinking, "My goodness, those two are SO on the same page! It's like they've discussed all these ideas before."
Right - I had no clue they were married.
Mia was talking about growing up and her dad learning the sport with her. He wasn't an expert in soccer and didn't teach her soccer skills. For sure, this was the same situation with my dad.
I am the only person in my family that has run competitively. If you check out my Facebook cover photo right now you will quickly understand and be convinced! I started running when I was ten years old and really got into the sport in high school. I'd have a cross-country race and my dad would ask what time I ran. Mid-season when I said 20:04, he would ask why I hadn't run faster than the previous race. He asked in a totally curious way, not with a questioning tone. I explained to my dad that the course was mushy. He was expressing interest and I was happy and proud that he was listening, paying attention, and trying to learn. He really knew nothing about cross-country and wasn't sure why I was so into putting my left foot in front of my right. Late season would roll around and I'd finish in 19:36. He'd give me a pat on the back and ask how I'd run so much faster. I'd explain to him that there was better competition, I'd gotten in a bit more training, we ran our first mile in 6:18 instead of 6:34, and I started my push to the finish at 600m out instead of 400m. The championship season would come and he'd ask me the game plan going into it. I would tell him what my goals, expectations, and strategy were for me and my teammates for districts, regionals, and State. We'd debrief after each race. In that debrief, it was again him listening and asking a couple curious questions to understand the new-to-him sport, how team points worked, and me telling him my perspective.
By the time I was a senior in high school, I was more impressed by my dad and could feel his love and proudness when he asked questions that made it evident how much he'd been paying attention to me and even possibly looking up a thing or two. He would ask me if Hilary or Kelly would be a the meet. He would ask me what kind of course the race was going to be on and if it would be a fast start or a pretty steady race. He let me do the talking. Mia Hamm explained a similar scenario of her dad's learning as time passed and she progressed.
It's got to be tough if you're a parent and you're watching your son or daughter do a sport that you know very well. It's hard to not critique or ask "Why did you do that move?" or "Why didn't you do -this idea- instead?" or to question what a coach's plans were.
Thanks Mia for talking about your dad and helping me more strongly realize how my dad was a really good parent when it came to sports even though he knew nothing about cross-country! It sounds like both guys were good sports parents ...and we as athletes are thankful.
My mom - oh, don't you worry - she's part 2 of this blog.
Who remembers what she yelled at me during a race?!
Maybe I'll be a parent one day...
Facebook Livestream video was posted on Positive Coaching Alliance on April 12th at 9:26pm.
In case you didn't grow-up watching Mia Hamm: http://hersportscorner.com/mia-hamm/
