| EliteFTS

This has been a break out year for The Girl. Though years training and watching us compete, she is now coming into her own and finding her athletic niche. In addition to her time training in the gym with us, this past spring she started throwing shot and discus. She quickly learned that she is pretty good at them, enjoys doing it and has found her competitive spirit.

This summer she has decided to step up her game a bit and compete in USA Track & Field (USATF) meets, start learning HOW to throw and is working with a weightlifting coach as well. She has hopes of also competing in a USA Weightlifting meet this fall, however a decision for that will be made as the meet draws near.

At this stage of the game, it is obvious that her strength is carrying her to success and she reports wanting to transition from good to great. This transition is proving to consume an extensive amount of time and commitment that in some ways I believe is too much for her age. However, as long as she wants to ride this ride, we will be there supporting her and mitigating the compromises and sacrifices. If tomorrow she wants off this ride, that is a decision she has full control over.

This week I do not have a cute story, inadvertent lesson or direct wisdom I am willing to share to be used as a reference from the kids’ athletics. Sometimes, there is no cute story or analogy. Sometimes when we peel back the curtain and get a glimpse into the reality of others, there is no turning back. The damage is done and perceptions are forever changed.

This morning I went to a community youth theater presentation of “Into The Woods, Jr. ” The final song, “Children Will Listen,” got me thinking. If you’re not familiar with the song, here is a glimpse.

Youth sports are notorious for implementing character education to help shape young people into moral and ethical adults while developing pro-social behavior. Character education programs are developed, cute log entries like the things I write about, etc are all used by adults to convince kids there is a bigger purpose in athletics that is developing them into more noble, righteous and ethical adults.

However, the essential foundation of ANY character education program or philosophy must be built on integrity. In simple terms, integrity is consistently behaving in a manner that reflects honesty and fairness. Integrity is doing the right thing, following the rules, not granting exceptions or favoritism to suit an individual agenda or use positions of authority for personal gain. Integrity is consistency between these values and behavior ALL the time.

Like the song, “Children Will Listen,” kids see and hear the side conversations, the maneuvering and those moments of inconsistency of integrity. The biggest threat almost always comes from the loudest and adamant individuals preaching about integrity and ethics.

In the strength world, we have all encountered the politics, technicalities, sudden and unwritten rule changes designed for the gain of specific individuals, etc. Many athletes are driven away from the sports they love because at some point, the curtain was pulled back. You can never turn back and unsee what was observed that might potentially undermine consistency and integrity for all athletes. Not only do these types of situations spoil the individual athlete’s appetite, they spoil the collective.

Integrity For Athletes

1. Work hard all the time. Put in your blood, sweat and tears.

2. Play by the established rules of your federation, team or association. Meet your duties, obligations and qualifications rather than finding influence, a technicality or loop hole for personal gain.

3. Be honest, reliable and consistent in your interactions with your peers, fellow competitors, coaches or teammates ALL THE TIME.

4. Own your mistakes or errors, rectify them and never repeat them.

5. Demand and reinforce the same behavior from others. Cut ties and move on from the cancers if possible.

The challenging part is when kids observe a lapse in integrity of others. I do not have words of wisdom or a funny punch line. It stinks because the initial reaction is for a child to internalize the behavior of others. As adults the best we can do is talk to our kids about consistency in our own behavior and there are times when others make poor choices. Once negative behavior is observed in others, we have a choice if we choose to respond, distance ourselves, or continue to move forward maintaining our own personal integrity.

At the end of the day, we cannot control others. The only control we have is over ourselves and how we choose to conduct ourselves.