The Lil dude won the U10 parallel Solomon race at Alpine Meadows a couple of weeks ago that featured nearly 100 boys… As much as I preach process and talk about the insignificance of results we oftentimes have no control over, it was pretty f*ing cool to see him standing on the top shelf with that big ass grin on his face and his Northstar teammates all fired up…
Bam Bam Biscuit’s sister, Sissy Small Fry was in 3rd place out of about 70 girls after the first run and then blew out trying to win it in her 2nd run. She was disqualified and a bit shaken up, but I couldn’t have been more proud of her FULL SEND approach…
With one kid on the top of the podium and the other standing off to the side after a gnarly wipeout, parenting isn’t always that easy. 😅
It is no secret, just like adults, kids want to win and kids LOVE to win… As awesome as a huge victory can be, the reward is fleeting and it is vital to make sure our kids understand exactly what led to that success. If we are able to get them to comprehend that the true victory lies in the process of what they need to do going forward, WE ALL WIN.
That said, if we as parents want to make the maximum positive impact on kids, we do need to reward victories, but way more importantly, we need to reward the things that have sustainability well beyond the race…
If we are able to hammer home the benefits of proper preparation, attitude, effort and being a great teammate, the lessons learned in any game or on any racecourse will be invaluable and everlasting…
By far and away the best moment was watching Sissy and the Northstar squad push Biscuit up onto the podium, genuinely excited for her brother and their teammate.
Appreciate the efforts of all the Northstar coaches that have done an awesome job guiding the young go hards in the right direction. 🙏
Oh, yea, when in doubt, as our dude the late great Chris Anderson liked to say…
Just f*ing SEND IT🎿
-EB