Not too long ago, I was competing as an athlete, going through life thinking I knew all the answers. As I looked at the older generation, I thought they were just older people who really didn’t have anything to offer me.

“Your day has come and gone and now make way for my awesomeness,” was what I probably thought.

You have coaches that you’d listen to, teachers who you might respect, and your parents trying to keep you in check. But, I thought I knew it all.  “Let me live my life please!  I can figure this out.”

Of course now I realize that all those words of wisdom and pieces of advice those older people were giving me was based on the simple fact that they have already done it before. They are trying to spare you the struggles that they went through and you do not need to go through the same thing.

There are some things that you have to go through on your own. Sometimes you need to get in a fight. Sometimes you need to have your heart broken. But, do I really need to experience yelling, “I have a bomb!” on a plane to understand that it won’t end up to good for me?

Those are some of the bits of advice the older generation tries to share with us if we are willing to listen that can spare us some of the needless struggles we shouldn’t have to go through.

In sports, it is no different. You hear about pros all the time talking about learning from the veterans. Picking their brains to learn the subtle nuances of the game. Or you hear the pros complain how none of the younger guys do that and think they know it all already.

I meet very few people my age or older that say, “Everything I wanted to accomplish in sports happened and I have absolutely no regrets.” I think part of the reason we have so many parents who push their kids in sports is because they are trying to get their athletes to put in all their efforts to being a better athlete. They want to give them opportunities that they did not have.

They don’t want their kids to have the same regrets they might have had after the athletic career is over.

Now some parents really take that to an extreme, but most don’t. The common phrase I get is, “I just want to give them every opportunity to be successful.”  

With that being said, kids will be kids, but they need to start realizing before it is too late there are many resources out there to get you better. You need to take advantage of them.

I had a talk with a parent recently about helping his daughter get better for track. Yes, this track season coming up that is two weeks away. Plus, she is a senior, and she is not going to run in college. This wasn’t on the parent for waiting too long. He told his daughter, if you need help let me know and I’ll get you all the help that you need.

This one is on the daughter. And I don’t mean to phrase it like I’m blasting her. It’s just that she finally realized what she wanted to do with athletics, but it really is too late. By the time any of my training would really start to take affect and hold, the season is just about over.

She should have had this realization a lot sooner. All you athletes need to realize the opportunities that are out there and to capitalize on them sooner rather than later. You only have one crack at this organized sports thing. So do it right.

I’ve said this before, but my mile relay team got second in the state by .5 seconds. Did I really maximize my athletic potential that year or could I have worked harder to get my body faster to make up that .5 seconds and get us the state title. I just said in my last blog post, I felt that I could have worked harder.

Don’t be like me 25 years removed from high school thinking about that. Listen to the older generation when they give advice, tips, and strategies on how to be better. And when the opportunity to get better is presented…JUMP AT IT.

Photo courtesy of Steven Pisano on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenpisano/