What kind of role model are you?

There’s this fellow that works out in our gym. He’s one of the regulars. One morning recently, he brought his young son in with him. I’m guessing the boy is about 7.

I had met the fellow and spoke to him in passing from time to time.  I knew where he worked and knew his boss. I knew he was sort of quiet. I had plenty of reason to think that his health was important to him. He worked hard in the gym.

But I had no idea he was a dad. It shouldn’t have been much of a surprise. But it was completely outside the context in which I knew him.

This kid was a little blonde-haired cutie. Dad showed him around a bit and then settled the kid into a chair that the boy had carefully placed. I thought it was pretty cool for the boy to watch his dad in a vigorous workout and smiling while he was doing so.

I found myself watching this youngster watch his dad. And what came into my head was what a great example this young father is giving his son.

We know that active children become active adults. If we’re really going to solve the childhood obesity problem, then we’ve got to get our children more active. Less TV. Healthier food. An active lifestyle.

There is little doubt that electronic devices can be the enemy of an active lifestyle. Hand held devices may be worse than TV because of the postures they promote (think head bent forward).

Frankly, mom and dad, it starts at home. I happen to believe that obesity is not so much genetic as it is learned. And most of those lessons come from our parents.

I’m not talking about strength training and daily visits to the gym. I’m talking about just being active. I might define it as the anti-sedentary lifestyle.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, if it is fun, they will not only work harder but they will get more out of it. I’ll admit that some of my miles slogging it out on a road bike are not always fun but put me on a sweet single-track trail on my mountain bike and the effort fades away.

It is never enough to simply send your kids outside to “play.” They will quickly get bored. Give them some options but more importantly, be a role model for them. Do stuff with them.

It can be anything from flying a kite to a walk in the woods. Wading in the Little River at the Y. Climbing on the equipment at Sandy Springs Park. Playing catch in the back yard. Swimming off Louisville Point Park. Walking up to the Lookout Tower at Look Rock.

Horseback riding. Cycling on the bike trail in Townsend. Paddling on the Little Tennessee River below Chilhowee Dam. Hiking the many miles of trail in the Smokies.

Sitting in a car driving around Cades Cove doesn’t really count unless you get out and hike a bit. Add a side trip to Abrams Falls and you’ve got a healthy excursion. Neither is cruising around the lake in a motor boat, unless you are being pulled behind it.

Whether you like it or not, little eyes are watching you. All the time. Little kids, especially, just want to grow up to be like mom or dad. What kind of role model are you?

Oh my: Football season is HERE!

Tell me it isn’t so…football season is upon us! I thought summer was just getting cranked up. The Dead Period is over and it’s here!

Don’t get me wrong. I love it. I’ve said too many times that I’ll quit my day job before I quit football. Too many birthdays have meant that I’ve had to make some accommodations.  Like running onto the football field. Not. Gonna. Happen.

I’ve decided that it is probably time to get one of those knee replacement things. As soon as football season is over. Which I hope is some time in December.

So…you are the parent of a high school football player. Maybe it’s the first time. Maybe you’re a veteran. Here are some things that might help it be a better season for you.

Your son (or daughter—we’re talking football here but the same basic concepts cross gender lines) has several coaches and only one set of parents.  It seems such a cliché but your child needs for you to be a parent.

That means loving them unconditionally, supporting them in everything they do. And don’t disparage their coach. And don’t yell at the referees. And show up for their games. And. And. And.

You get the picture. It really is quite easy to understand. Your child needs you but if you let them define how they need you, then it will work out well for all of you.

Get injuries checked. Around here, at the high school level and, to a certain degree, the junior high level—an Athletic Trainer is readily available. For high school football, one of our (Total Rehab) Athletic Trainers is always there. For practices, scrimmages, and all games. That’s because of the number of athletes that are on every team and because of the nature of the game.

You’ll also find our Athletic Trainers at a lot of other games and events. It’s what we do and we made that commitment to our local schools a long time ago.

We also open our doors at Cherokee every morning at 7 to check injuries among athletes. We bring all of our athletic trainers in to Cherokee for that purpose. Ortho Tennessee-Maryville (formerly Maryville Orthopedic Clinic) also comes in early and will see those athletes that our Athletic Trainers have determined need an orthopedic evaluation.

To make it clear, that service is provided to all of the schools that we serve and is intended for both high school and junior high athletes.

Stay in the present. Enjoy it while it is going on. I’ve enjoyed youth sports with the grandkids far more than their parents. I can sit back and enjoy the games and don’t feel in the least compelled to yell at the umpire, worry if they’re good enough, or question the coach. I can even laugh when a grandson runs to the dugout when he was told to go home (he was on third base).

Lay off the officials. They’re not perfect. They make mistakes. Yet, they are an essential part of every game. We cannot do it without them. Try this-imagine that referee is your son or daughter. How would you want them treated? Exactly!

Enjoy the process.  Blink your eyes and these days will be gone. Done well, with positive family support, sports can be one of the best things you can do in your life.

Leadership 101

Leadership. It’s been said that Leaders are born that way. That you either have it or you don’t. I don’t think that is entirely true.

You’ve heard my story before. How high school football transformed an underachieving kid into someone that knew that with enough effort, anything is possible.

My leadership path followed a different path. I’ve shared a bit of that here before but it bears repeating. I can remember being assigned as the leader of a Boy Scout Patrol, sort of a sub-group in the Boy Scout Troop (215) that I was a member of. It came as a bit of a surprise to me.

Whether on purpose or by accident, I was also given a Patrol of misfits—kids that maybe didn’t fit in elsewhere or who might have been, let’s say, difficult. Through what must have been extraordinary adult leadership, I was able to assist in leading this ragtag bunch in becoming a cohesive unit of overperforming Boy Scouts.

Another component of Boy Scouts is the annual Jamboree. They still do that. Part of the Jamboree is for individual Patrols to compete at things like fire starting, relay racing, tent building, and the like. I’ll jump to the end and tell you that my Patrol, the Owl Patrol, won every category.

That was quite obviously the beginning of my leadership development. I was given an opportunity. I stepped up. Did somebody see something in me? They must have. What was it? I have no idea. I was the underachieving kid from the wrong side of the tracks.

But I always did seem to thrive in Boy Scouts. I became an Eagle Scout. I was in the Order of the Arrow. I received the God & Country Award. Even today, I cannot tell you what resonated so strongly with me about Scouting but I loved everything about it.

Later, I got involved in Student Government in college. Since then I have held a number of leadership positions in our state and national physical therapy association, being elected President of my state and later elected to national office in the American Physical Therapy Association.

Was I born a leader? I suppose. In a way. But I surely had good teachers and role models all along the path. But what is a leader? And how does one become a leader? 

I was always taught to make a difference in the world. Just like I’ve never known how my uneducated parents instilled in me the absolute, beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt knowledge that I was going to college, I’ve never known how they also taught me that I was in this world to make a difference in this world.

Sometimes leadership is when opportunity meets ambition. Sometimes I saw doors and stepped through them. Other times, it was others who encouraged me.

But let me put it this way—anybody can become a leader. Everybody has something of that leader thing in their gene pool. And Everybody can develop leadership skills. I know. I teach leadership skills at many levels. You can become a more effective leader if you put in the effort, if you are open to learning, if you see yourself as a servant.

What? Servant? Yes..I’m convinced that all effective leadership is Servant Leadership. So I’ll end with a quote from Maryville native Dave Ramsey: “Bosses push. Leaders pull. Real leadership is servant leadership.”