General By Jim McPartland--Reprinted from 2019.
Toreador seniors enter home stretch of final contests of fall seasons!
This article is reprinted from 2019.
The leaves are finally starting to turn a familiar orange and red color and will soon be falling. These changes not only indicate winter is around the corner, but also our fall athletic seasons are quickly coming to an end.
The seniors in each sport are preparing to play their final contest on their home field or in their home gym. And for most, their athletic careers are winding down as only seven percent of high school athletes will compete at the collegiate level.
Senior night can bring about a pretty wide range of emotions….from pride, sadness, to gratitude. And honestly sometimes emotions for athletes and parents are totally different.
My wife and I have already experienced senior days/nights for our two oldest children in both high school and college. It is at the same time both awesome and sad. It's another link in the chain of all of the "final" or "last" of many things our children experience, such as a school dance, concert, or awards ceremony.
When athletes make it to senior night, it is a sign of stamina and commitment. Being even a high school athlete today is a tremendous time commitment, much more so than 20 years ago. It is a culmination of four years of hard work--day after day of practice, weight lifting, team meals, summer workouts, Saturday tourneys or yoga sessions. The fact yourson or daughter made it to this point should make you proud! And let's face it, most athletes give up a particular sport before their senior year for various reasons.
I know not all parents feel the same way but my wife and I loved watching our two oldest children play sports and still continue to love watching our youngest son! It's exciting, fun, and yes can be frustrating. But this window of time is so very short. It speeds by so fast. Appreciate the opportunity you have!
That is why senior night can be sad. We love to watch our children compete and be on a team with people they have meaningful relationships with. Athletics is all about growing and developing as a person. We learn lessons in sports we do not learn any other place. Suddenly, that time is done, and honestly it is an indication we are all getting a little older.
Do our children feel the same way? That's hard to answer accurately, but I think it is pretty safe to say they have a range of emotions as well. Those range from relief to sadness. Regardless of how they feel emotionally, sports is shaping them into an adult that we hope will contribute to society.
Reality also tells us that all seasons are not created equal. As far as wins and losses go, some seasons are not as successful as others. Those situations help equip our children for later struggles in life. It took me a lot of seasons of being a coach and parent to realize that the relationships formed and the lessons learned were much longer lasting than the wins and losses. A senior season can still be a positive experience regardless of a team's record.
Finally I can say I have a tremendous amount of gratitude for all of the people that impacted my two seniors in a positive way…..head and assistant coaches, trainers, managers, other players, other parents, and fans. I think all of us would be shocked if we realized just how many people make an impact on our children as they participate in athletics. Maybe it is the person keeping stats, or that couple that sits in the same seat at every game that offers encouragement, or that lady that takes pictures of everyone and posts them on Facebook.
So what does senior night really mean? It means your son or daughter has run the race of an athletic season, balanced a crazy life for 3-4 months, and came out on the other end better for it. I think senior night also proves that the old adage "it takes a village to raise a child" is definitely more true now than ever.I am thankful my village is Boone, Iowa.
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