Written by A common perception and statistic is that only 1% of high school athletes become collegiate athletes, well, maybe that’s true. However, they achieve such success because of a support system – usually their Mother. If my audience wants to look at Sport’s Culture, think about the nurturing care of a “Mom” while a child is going through their Sports Career. Being a true “Mom” is different than being a true “Mother,” most women can birth a child, but that doesn’t make you a Mom. Moreover, being a true “Sports Mom,” is exceptionally and effortlessly cool in my mind.
A Sports Mom is unique and extremely caring. A dear friend of mine (and kind of a surrogate mother at times) Susan “Sue” Spinuzza weighed in on this topic. She states, “It’s a gift to watch your child grow through athletics, and when you read the signs and understand what ‘makes them tick,’ it’s very fulfilling to see it happen.”
Sue, a Mom of 3 friends (when I say friends, it’s more like brothers) of mine, shared this experience with my own Mom (Cindy) through Sport, particularly Track and Field. (But also a mixture of others, two being epic snowball fights and rubber band gun fights … yes people, if you saw how seriously we took them, you would know that they’re sports) But if you’ve seen what Sue’s sons and myself have seen, you would understand to what extent a Sports Mom will go to in order to see their child succeed.
Sport’s Culture simply is not one dimensional; for Sport Culture to thrive it takes a support system. The lengths that our Moms have gone to in order to see us succeed is just … cool, and created beautiful stories. Anyone who has has had the privilege of having a true Sports Mom, I implore that you go give them a hug right now if you can. That is Sport Culture, a Mother who will go any length to see their child succeed.
From Sue, “It’s a gift to have the window to see your child grow; kids are like plants in a garden, they do different things in different ways, try to understand them,” from Cindy, “Learn your animal, it could be a horse, a pole-vaulting pole, or a javelin, or a discus … or a child. Everything grows afterwards.”
From Sue, Cindy, and Myself, Happy Holidays, and as always Cheers to Sports.
Pictured above left to right: Susan Spinuzza and Cindy Kowalsky at a local Track and Field meet.