Athletes as Role Models

I was talking to someone the other day who mentioned that there was a real dearth of public, positive role models for boys today, and somehow TIger Woods entered the conversation.  I started  thinking about athletes, their unique status as role models, and really who was out there to hold up on a pedestal.  There is always the worry that those we hold in high esteem will come crashing down, like Tiger, but I think that there are some very worthy candidates for the pedestal.  There is a great line that Tobey McGuire speaks as Peter Parker in Spiderman,”With great power, comes great responsibility”.  Sports figures have great power in our society, and we pay them for their talent, cheer them on, support them in multiple ways  and in exchange we expect them to live up to a standard of behaviour.   I have talked to my guys about a few that I think are great examples of men who have overcome the odds and achieved great things in sport and have sometimes faltered…

My guys ride horses,  so I shared the background of Eric Lamaze and his journey to win a gold medal for Canada in the 2006 Summer Olympics.  What I stress about Eric is that he didn’t come from a typical horsey background, he grew up in Montreal in a troubled family with not much money, got into riding, was very talented and made some very bad mistakes.  He was kicked out twice for drug use and was given a third chance.  He persevered and changed and took his lumps.  He came back and won gold.  I think for me that he kept trying, that he overcame some demons and had people who didn’t give up on him are messages that are good for them to hear.  Also that everyone makes mistakes and it is what you do about the mistake that matters not so much the mistake itself. Eric is a bit of a tarnished role model but there are some interesting lessons in his journey.

My guys also swim, so I was happy to share with them Michael Phelps‘s story, how he was bullied as a kid, came to swimming late (11), found his passion and an amazing coach who helped him through some difficulties and went on to become one of the greatest athletes of all time, winning 8 Olympic gold medals at the 2006 Summer Olympics.  I love his story and yes, he also got caught smoking pot and that put a little tarnish on his gold but he is human.  I think it is important for my guys to recognize that no matter how great we believe someone is, we all make mistakes and humans are fallible beings.

My favourite though is,  Steve Nash.  To me, his story, his success, and his off court endeavors are really worth sharing.  He was born in South Africa and moved to Canada when he was quite young with his family, settling in Victoria.  He played soccer, and basketball and apparently shared with his mom, his goal of playing in the NBA.  The odds were certainly stacked against him, he is white (about 20% of NBA players are white), the average height of an NBA player is 6’7″ (he is a measly 6’3″), he is Canadian (there have been about 17 Canadians who have played in the NBA since the league was formed and there are about 432 players in the league this season)….so huge odds that this somewhat short, white Canadian kid would make it….but it is good to have a goals!

For those of you who don’t know, Steve Nash has played point guard in the NBA since the 96-97 season.  When he was picked 15th in the first round of the draft, he was booed as a relative unknown. He has been a league MVP twice, and been selected to play on the NBA All-Star team 6 times.  Out of the 14 seasons he has played, he has led his teams to the playoffs 10 times.  He has beaten the odds…he not only is playing in the NBA, he has dominated it at times as a star player.  He has received many other awards and accolades for his athletic prowess and skills.  He caused a bit of a commotion at the 2003 NBA All-Star game for wearing an anti-war  t-shirt that said “Shoot baskets, not people.” He is also recognized as a nice guy, with deep principals who uses his celebrity status to push products only when companies agree to provide funds for charities.

He is married, he has two daughters, he started a foundation, The Steve Nash Foundation and here is what he has to say:

“I started this Foundation because I really felt the need to try to help people. As a professional athlete, you are in a position and given the opportunity to really have an impact on more than just your immediate surroundings. For me to be able to do that is something that’s sometimes challenging, but always worthwhile.

Everyday, all of us – together and as individuals – have an opportunity as citizens to contribute to the vision we want to see in the world.  And how best to do that but through children.  We know that kids run the world; we know that they grow and walk and run the world.  They need from us now the tools to help them grow.  They need from us now those things that will position them to think for themselves and become their own guiding forces that will shape our communities, locally and globally, down the road.  What we are trying to do with foundation is to actuate our collective hope by helping to grow health in them.”

Oh, and by the way, he is part owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps-FC, and is bringing professional soccer to Vancouver in 2011.  He is also one of the people behind the Women’s Professional Soccer League. He has done much more that I have written here but he is worth googling to learn more about to share with your sons, as a guy who we can all look up to and learn from.  There are many other examples of other great sports figures, I have just picked a few that I have shared with my guys and whose stories and journey’s have touched something in me.  With the winter Olympics around the corner, it is a great opportunity to find some more examples that your kids may relate to…Who are role models you share with your kids?

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