Greetings!
4th Secret - Interview with Brian Grasso regarding youth obesity, children's health and family fun.
Every Kid is an Athlete
Brian Grasso: Right. That is a tremendous mindset difference I'm asking parents to make. Every kid is an athlete - whether your child plays sports, whether they're overweight and obese and are largely inactive or not, every kid is an athlete and we have to really look at them like that and treat them like that.
Now, let me define athlete. I'm not suggesting that every child is on the cusp of being an Olympic champion or going to go play college football or professional baseball - that's not what I mean by athlete. But athletes inherently move. They train every day, they move every day, and they're active every day. And we have to embrace that mentality.
All children are born the same way - with the same physical structure, the same central nervous system structure - we are needing to be active from literally birth through our entire life span in order to be functional and fit. And that's a reality of life. The human body is constructed to move. It's wired to move. It's made to move. And so, when we look at all of our children even if they're non-athletes, competitive athletes or overweight or anything else, we have to look at them like they're athletes. And we have to accept that daily motion, daily activity is part of being a human being, just like athletes who train everyday.
The other sort of cognitive shift I want parents to understand in this process is we never know what's going to happen. Far too often I hear parents saying, well my 8 year old is very overweight, very obese, he'll never amount to being a great athlete, I just want him to be fit. Well you don't know that. I'm always taken back to the story of Michael Jordan - conceivably the greatest athlete, most certainly the best basketball player our world has ever seen. He got cut from his middle school basketball program - he got cut! He wasn't good enough. And he turned into the greatest basketball player of all time. That's the reality of human development. We don't know when the body or the mind is necessarily going to peak. We really can't predict when maturation is going to happen, or when all kinds of neurological process are going to take place and all of a sudden what was once an overweight 8 year old becomes a 6ft. 4in. very coordinated 14 year old with all kinds of athletic skill. We really can't predict that. But the more we treat our kids like they're overweight, like they're obese, they're not athletic, that's exactly what they're going to become, because they believe that's the expectation we have on them.
So, treat kids like they're athletes. Be active everyday. Put no boundaries or limits on them whatsoever. Today's 8 year old overweight child could be the starting quarterback in high school for all we know - we don't know. So, treat kids like they're athletes. Make activity part of a daily process, and never ever verbally limit them in any capacity from what they could possibly achieve.
Secret number 5 coming Feb. 20- Healthy Kids are Part of Healthy Families . Make it Happen Today - Team Xcelerate welcomes parents and family members to participate in the Youth Athletic Development program together. Try the program, for FREE, today. Parents can also get involved in our FitFunCamp and experience an whole new way to get and stay fit. |
Free Youth Training - March 1 - March 5
Join Coach Phillip Glotser (Metairie Playground) or Coach Brad Taliancich (St. Charles Parish) for FREE training sessions.
Take this opportunity to experience our training sessions and see why you should join Session 2.
Youth Athletic Development, Session 2, begins on March 1, 2009.
Visit www.teamxyg.com to view the Training Calendar. You Must RSVP for these FREE sessions. Reserve your spot by email today!! Reserve by emailing or calling 504-915-9716. Sincerely,
Coach Brad Taliancich
Team Xcelerate: Xcelerate Your Game! |
