Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to be involved with the training of some pretty stellar amateur riders. All of these dedicated athletes had incredible amateur careers, especially their last two seasons. They also all successfully graduated into the pro ranks to officially become professional athletes and adult contributors to the Gross National Product.
It has been super interesting and fulfilling to contribute to their development as athletes but also to witness and hopefully be a small part of their development into adults. In my unique position of being part of but still being outside of this process has allowed me to view a wide variety of parenting/race program styles. In an often single minded pursuit of racing goals many times the process of becoming an independent adult is thrown on a back burner. I have heard several reasons and have deduced opinions about why and how this happens. I am not a parent yet so this is all based on my view from outside the fence.
Some parents want the rider to only worry about riding. They take care of all other matters so that the young rider can focus all of their attention on the riding and racing task at hand. Some feel that motocross forces their children to grow up too fast and take on the pressures of elite amateur motocross racing so they absorb as much of that as possible to spare the young racer. Some parents I feel don’t want to give up their position or investment in reaching the dream; taking care of the rider keeps them in the mix and thus part of the program. Some simply live vicariously through their children and don’t want to give up an ounce of that joy so the more involved they are the more entrenched they become in the program. I am not at all against parenting; I am just stating some personal opinions. The rider is always or should always be grateful for all this parenting no matter what.
Again, all the riders I have worked with at this level have reached the ultimate goal of a pro career. The result justifies the path. All of this is great until the rider actually starts to live as a professional. Usually this involves moving, getting their first house or apartment, going grocery shopping all the necessary tasks of independent living. Here is where the path becomes apparent. The rider is transitioning to racing in the pro ranks; does he or she also have to take on all the added errands, pressures, time management, etc of adult living in addition or has that rider already experienced these things as an amateur? Will this new added stress and foreign pressure interfere with their performance as a pro rider? The parents can keep coddling them at this stage but at what point will the adult rider want to be treated as the professional, adult motorcycle racer and possibly rebel at attempts to continue parenting?
Yes, maybe the way high level amateur racing is conducted does throw some very adult oriented pressures on the rider but this is the path that everyone involved chose. In my opinion it is better to start letting the rider absorb, handle and learn from these adult pressures and demands. This way when they do reach their ultimate goal of racing as a career they are more equipped with the tools to smoothly transition into a true adult professional. It may seem harsh or go against your very sincere and genetically programmed efforts to protect, provide and obtain the best for your children but consider the ultimate goal and what the end result may be. I realize that telling someone how to be a parent is a super no-no and that is not what I am trying to do at all. I am just verbalizing my observations and personal opinions. Nothing more than food for thought. Every parent of a child realizing any athletic or life goal at all is to be applauded for those successes. I just slowly came to these personal conclusions and am only stating them to possibly help another rider and parent team realize their ultimate goals and dreams.
Of course, I could totally change my mind when I have children of my own! I will probably be the worst of them all!
