I wish I had been more of an athlete in high school; an athlete with a calling and a passion for a sport, preferably a team sport. It’s not that I wasn’t athletic - I rode my horse year-round, competing almost every Sunday from April to October and I skied nearly every weekend in the winter. However, besides a short stint on the swim team and two years of field hockey, I never tapped into my potential until I was older, and perhaps, still haven’t!

I wasn’t discouraged from trying out, and there were and are plenty of parents that actively - almost aggressively - discourage their kids from getting involved in sports. These parents use injury, lack of popularity or, horror of all horrors, muscularity to prevent their child from enjoying sports.

No, I wasn’t discouraged at all; I just wasn’t encouraged.

I didn’t have the example that so many of the kids in my life have: an athletic parent, Auntie or neighbor who lives an athletic lifestyle, maybe still a competitive one, and is willing to lead by example with words or actions. Encouragement, Auntie, is something we never outgrow. I am certainly making up for lost time and wouldn’t change a thing, but as I am a “work in progress,” I still have much to learn and many of the lessons I am learning now come from athletes I admire, and many of them are kids.

What is a student athlete?
By definition, being a student athlete is being a participant in a school-sponsored or school-supported organized competitive sport while having the direct balance of being a full-time student and a full-time athlete.

Two full-time responsibilities for anyone, let alone kids in middle school or high school, is a lot to manage. There is something to be said for the kids that tackle a sport - or several – while maintaining exceeding the basic grade requirements of their school and still managing to do all the things that kids should do as they navigate their way through the tween and teen years.

Having a student athlete in your life means there is still room for you, Auntie, but there is also a great need for your encouragement, support, understanding of their lack of free time and, if you live near, carpooling.

LAX! Not lacks…
CJ is one of my nephews-by-choice. He is 14 and not only an accomplished lacrosse player, but he is also a talented film producer, super smart, funny and a great source of inspiration. A friend of mine once remarked that when I speak of CJ it’s like I am speaking of a peer, and in many ways, I am.

You are never too old or too young to learn, and never too old or too young to teach. Auntie, we can all learn from the kids in our lives. CJ is a dynamo on the lacrosse field and lives and breathes the sport. Despite the lacrosse season “only” lasting from late winter to early summer, like many sports, it is a year-round commitment and requires a great deal of time and orchestration, and, my favorite word, passion.

Here is CJ’s typical schedule:  
The Off Season (commonly referred to as summer)
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays - group practice from 7 a.m. – 10 a.m., followed by strength training.
Seven days per week – practice at home, one hour a day.

Fall Ball
Regularly scheduled practices after school, several times per week.
Tournaments and clinics at colleges and universities, several times per month.

The Season
Monday thru Friday – after school practices, two to three hours each.
Two to three days per week – lacrosse games vs. other schools, travel often required.

I asked CJ recently how he handles it and why? “You have to find a balance,” he said while enjoying one of his last days before school starts.

“There are times when I want to play with friends for an hour when I get home and I can’t. It’s time management. I do it for the satisfaction of being on a team with friends and to take my game to the next level.”

I don’t know about you, Auntie, but I’m inspired! This falls under my new mantra, “Learn and Live!”

Amy Shigo is a sports journalist.

Photo: Courtesy Amy Shigo.
Published: August 31, 2010