Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #954 White Line Fever

Transcript

#954 White Line Fever · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: It's the podcast for the time poor parent who just
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: wants answers.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Now. Hello, this is doctor Justin Coulson. Sound quality for
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: this podcast, at least the intro is a little different
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: to normal. It's because I'm in a hotel room. The
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: last couple of weeks have been just enormous for Kylie
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: and I have been traveling around the country giving talks
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: all over the place. Last week I was in Perth
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: for the entire week, working with some wonderful families and
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: brilliant schools up and down the coast in Western Australia
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: and in Perth itself. This week it's been Sydney. I've
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: been at Penrith Christian I've been at MacArthur Anglican School.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: I spent Wednesday at Shaw the Boys' School in North Sydney,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: and yesterday I was at Northern Beaches Christian School, talking
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: about respect for relationships, talking about how we can make
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: our families happier and doing my best to help as
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: many families as I can. I love to do this,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: but every now and again it gets in the way
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: of our podcast recording. Kylie and I can't record, and
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: I'll do better tomorrow this week because I just haven't
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: been able to get into the studio. However, as we
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: combed through the archives and thought about what we could
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: share with you in a podcast, I came across this
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: episode that we're going to share with you now with
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: shoon A Hendley talking about the way we behave at
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: our kids' sporting events. Sports startup for winter in just
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: a couple of weeks, new seasons just around the corner,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: and this was a fascinating and really enlightening and positive,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: maybe even an inspiring conversation about how we can support
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: our kids' best when it comes to their sporting activities
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: on the weekend, I hope you enjoyed my conversation with
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: shoon A Handley about parental behavior at kids sporting events,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: and we'll be back with all new episodes Happy Families
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Podcast next week. I'm excited to talk to Shona Henley, journalist,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: mum and provocateur, somebody who writes a whole lot of
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: articles regularly for the Fairfax Press, for the ABC and
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: whoever else will take her writing talking about parenting observations.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: I'm going to start today's interview with Showona by sharing
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: a story showna I'm going to be a little bit indulgent.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: We're going to make this about me as much as
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: you for just a sec, okay for it. Some years
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: ago one of my kids, my oldest daughter, probably ten
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: years ago now, was playing netball. She was in the
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: middle of this very high stakes game. I mean, this
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: game mattered a great deal. I was there, I was
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: cheering for her, and what I noticed, Shona, was that
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: the referee, with her two eyes, could not see what
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: was going on nearly as well as I could with
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: my one eye, if you know what I mean, Because
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: supporters are so often one eyed. You know I'm going there,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: and I found myself. Bear in mind, when you're watching
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: fourteen year old girls playing netball. The people who are
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: running up and down beside the court, the referees are generally,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: I don't know, aged somewhere between fourteen and seventeen, usually
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: just pretty young kids themselves. And I hurt myself saying,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: come on, rev Or, are you serious? Are you going
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: to like? I started giving some coaching tips to the
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: referees on how they might do a better job, and
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe maybe halfway through the game, I
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: heard myself and I realized what I was doing. Maybe
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: it was the fact that a couple of people looked
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: at me because I was perhaps getting a little bit
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: too vocal, and fortunately for me, I guess I held
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: it together. I pulled it back and I just started
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: cheering for my daughter and for the other team when
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: they did something well as well, because frankly, they were
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: playing very very well. Tell me what you've seen as
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: you've observed parents on the sidelines of sporting fields.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Well, firstly, I totally agree with you. You can get so
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: into it and then you don't realize what you're doing.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: I think that's like completely natural, and I think I've
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: also been there, so.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: In fact, your voice sounds a little horse because you've
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: been cheering.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: That's right, That's what it is. Yeah, it's not being
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: in Victoria where every cold is going around that it's
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: all right. But yeah, it's so easy to do it,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: and I think it's so natural as a parent, So
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: you know, I think everyone's being there. But my article
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: was sort of focusing on the positives more than the negatives,
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: which is unusual for me as a critique of all people.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I was just looking at the fact that
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: sports parents get quite a bad rap. So, you know,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: you hear a lot about things parents can do wrong,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: like soccer mom, like the Karen of the parents that's
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: out there and knows best, to the referee, to the coach,
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: to other kids, their kids, like you know, they've you know,
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: all their dreams that were never fulfilled are being pushed
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: on to everybody else. But my article is sort of
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: just looking at how it's not really the case for
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: the majority I think out there, and that really sports
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: parents are pretty good and they're pretty dedicated as well.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: So I want to talk about those good dedicated parents shortly,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: but we can't have a conversation like this without talk
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: talking about the elephant in the room, the fact that
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: there are so many parents who do those things that
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: you've just described as an observer rather than a psychologist,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: as somebody who is paid to take note of what's
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: going on. What do you think is going on in
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: terms of this whole pushing things onto the kids? Where
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: do you think that comes from? What have you observed?
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Maybe even with your own kids, maybe you've experienced it.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think really just want your child to do
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: the best, and I think most of the time it
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: comes from a good place. You know, maybe when you
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: were younger, you could have tried harder in a particular element,
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: and you have that regret, so you don't want your
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: child to go, you know, the same way. But other
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: times I think maybe there's people that are definitely super
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: competitive and that also comes through infiltrates into their children
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: That's right, I'm competitives, so my kid better, Dan will
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: be Yeah, that's right. So I want to be a
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: little bit provocative here and challenge you. And in some
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: ways this is unfair because you're not necessarily saying these things,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: but I want to bounce the idea off you and
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: and get your take on it. Why do you think that?
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: So many parents say, I just want my kids to
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: do their best? Like, why is doing your best so
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: important on the soccer field or the cricket field, or
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the netball field or the whatever whatever it is that
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the kids are playing this weekend? Why is doing your
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: best so important?
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Well? I think for some people maybe doing your best
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: is winning.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, winning matters even more sometimes than doing your best, Right, that's.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: It, because you know, if you're trying your best but
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: you're still lack suck. So for some parents it's probably
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: not going to be enough, but I think it's probably
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: really personal. But you know, I think you want to
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: see your child succeed as well, like you want their
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: team to win, like you don't want them coming off
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: like my daughter plays a netball too team yeah not
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: really good anyway, terrible. I don't know and listens to this,
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: but yeah, I hate you too.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: But there are a lot of people that listen to this.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: I'm just just letting you know, well, sorry you do try.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: But you know what, they like always have a lot
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: of fun, Like my daughter comes off smiling all the time.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: The fact that I think the other week it was
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: like twenty to zero. Wow, yes it wasn't great. But
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: they're also like nine and under, so you know they're
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: still just learning. But no one there is like getting
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: upset with their kid for their team, you know, only
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: having zero, and the other team that's getting twenty as
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: well aren't like, you know, like super pumped and rubbing
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: it in either. So I don't know if I've really
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: answered your question there or not.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Wells here's my I guess the back end of my
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: provocation because I've thought about this a lot. I remember
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: some years ago one of my kids got a report card,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: and the report card was pretty good. But I don't
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: really look at our kids' reports, and it's because of
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: this daughder that I don't. But as I went through,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: I said, you know what, I don't really mind what
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: grade you get. What I care about is that you're
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: trying hard, that you're getting recognized for your effort. And
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: we got to one of her subjects and she got
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: a SEE for effort, and so I pulled her up
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: on it and I said, what's the deal with this.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: You're not doing your best here? Obviously the teacher's saying
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: you only got a see for effort. She burst into
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: tears and she said, Daddy, I failed trying. I tried
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: so hard that I failed trying. And I just thought, Hm,
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Since then, I've thought about this idea. I want my
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: kids to fulfill their potential. I want them to be
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: their best, do their best. And I've kind of shifted,
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: well I haven't kind of, I've clearly shifted. I don't
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: care if they do their best. I just want them
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: to love it. I just want them to develop their competence,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: to develop relationships, and to come off that field or
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: that court or whatever. It is that they're doing and go,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: ah jee, I'm so glad. I can't wait for next week. Yeah,
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: that's it. I want them to love it. And it
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: seems like when we have these parents behaving badly on
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: the sideline stories, it strikes me that they're not going
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: to it if we keep that up, because the constant coaching,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: the constant berating, the constant derogation of the referee or
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: the coach, all that does is make the kids feel
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: like they can't do a good enough job, they're unworthy.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: It's no fun when you're getting told that you're not
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: good enough.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Actually, when I was looking into this, I remember
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: reading some comments from kids on another story from years ago,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: and one person said, my favorite thing about sport was
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: when it was time to go home, and that was
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: based purely on like, yeah, that sort of behavior. And
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: I think it's you know, definitely can come from parents,
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: but yeah, it can come with from coaches and that
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: sort of thing too. And I think for girls especially,
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: you know, obviously being parents of girls, both of us,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: it's in sports they drop out, like the rate is
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: pretty high. And for me, like I think I probably
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: was one of them, like about year nine, for myself.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: So I want my girls to keep going and doing
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: it all ugh, you know, for as long as they
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: possibly can. So enjoyment, you know, is definitely a priority,
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: because there's all those other skills that build along the
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: way with sports that have nothing to do with sports,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: you know, and I think they're probably the most important
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: mines in the end.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: We're having that wrestler right now, Shona. We've watched each
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: of our children around you said grade nine, we're seeing
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: it happen around grade seven, grade eight, and statistically we
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: see that it's just a cliff kids participating in organized sports,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: especially girls, literally just stops from around about that age
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: of thirteen fourteen. That there are body image issues, there's
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: obviously hormonal stuff, there are periods, there's the fact that
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: people are watching them. Sometimes the clothing that girls are
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: expected to wear makes them very, very uncomfortable. But there's
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: also just that feeling of competence. So one of my
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: kids loves acrobatics, and for the last couple of years,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: she has last year or so, she's been in heaven.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: But at the moment, as she's getting older and her
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: body's changing, her upper body strength, which is so important
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: for acrobatics is well, it's just not there like it
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: used to be. As what he's shifting, and as her
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: confidence falls, her desire to participate is dropping. And what
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: we're finding is those two things, the ability to get
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: better at something and the ability to have good relationships
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: while you're doing it. They're at the core of it.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the good stuff that you've observed. And
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: this is what I did love about your article. Your
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: article was actually an ode to I felt like it
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: was kind of fitting. It came out a couple of
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: weeks after the Matilda's and the World Cup of Soccer,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: and everyone's talking about how great these kids are, and
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: it felt to me like it was an ode to
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: the parents. An ode to the parents who are waking
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: up at four point thirty in the morning to get
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: their kids to squad training or taking their kids down
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: to dance or down to nippers at the beach or
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: whatever it is, at crazy hours, multiple days a week,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: the enormous sacrifice of parents. Tell me about what you
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: observed and how you wrote it up.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I sort of just looked into the research
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: to start off with, and there was a bit out
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: there about the sheer amount of hours that parents devote
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: to sports, just specifically, that's aside from everything else that
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: or anything else that your child does, you know, school
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: related or any other extracurricular activity is and I think
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: from memory it was something like eight hundred and something
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: a year per child. So depending on how many you
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: have and then how many sports they have, obviously there's
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: it's a lot. I'm not a mass person, but it's
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: a lot of hours, you know, Like, you know, we
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: have a lot of things to do as parents, and
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: you know self care is important too, but from training
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: to competitions to camps, everything else that is involved with
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: sports these days social events as well. Like it's it's
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: a lot of hours. Then that's just taking them there.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: So this is what this is what you said, and
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: I'll quote you directly to Yeah, Australian parents each spend
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: roughly eight hundred and forty eight hours annually. Yeah, that's it.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: Eight hundred and forty eight hours. That's enormous. It's a
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: lot one point zero eight billion hours across Australia spent annually.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: Is parents support their kids involvement in sports and the
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: other figure that struck me, especially in this time of
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: high inflation and financial challenge you said, darted from this
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: rounds Sports Commissions os PLAY survey shows are families average
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: spend last year on sports for children aged fourteen and
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: under was a touch under twelve hundred dollars per child.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's it, and that's obviously any like you've raised
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: that issue. I came across a few pieces as well
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: where a lot of parents are choosing now to either
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: pull their children out of sport or reduce the amount
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: of sport that they're doing because of just the cost
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: of living as well, which is like it's a whole
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: other issue. But you know a lot of them have
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: said they know how important that is for their kids
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: and that they want them to stay in sport as well.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: So it's definitely something that's valued, you know, and that's
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: shown through time, shown through money, and it's shown through
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: effort as well, like volunteering that you know, the majority
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: of us do, whether we want to or not, in
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: our kid's sport as well, when I.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Think of a life well lived, the characteristics or attributes
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: of those who live great lives, so much of what
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: children's sport offers satisfies those things. So there's the skill
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: building and the competence. There's the relationships and the community building,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: the sense of being a part of something bigger than yourself.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: There's the purpose, there's the motivational aspects. There's being. For many,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: if not all, of the sports, certainly for many of them,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: there's being outside. There's being in nature, the handi coordination,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: the movement sports and physical activity. When I hear you
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: say what you've just said, it makes me get very
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: very frustrated that we have a Victorian government that's just
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: blown close to four hundred million dollars to not have
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: the Commonwealth Games. And I think about that four hundred
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: million dollars and imagine it being infused into children's and
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: youth sports across this country, and I'm going to be honest,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: it makes me pretty damn angry that we have governments
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: that are so so wasteful with our money. When I
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: look at the world being benefits, we're dealing with a
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: mental health crisis literally when it comes to our young people. Statistically,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: we've never had so many young people who are struggling
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: with so many mental health challenges. And this is an
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: undeniable lever that we can pull to satisfy and support
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: mental health needs and yet the government's not doing it.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: It's an infuriating, infuriating conversation.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Yes, I'm Victorians, and I'm also from the regions where
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: all these things are supposed to take place, so you know,
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: for us. There's an interesting comment from someone from the
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: commerce head of Commerce Ballarat yesterday. I'm from Ballarat and
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: he was just really angry about the lack of communication
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: around that and what an issue that was. And yeah,
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: basically the same thing.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: It was just a wasted opportunity.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: It could have totally worked, but you know, it was
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: just not communicated well and coordinated well.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: And the downstream effects in terms of the inspiration that
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: kids can take from seeing the games, the money that
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: could have been invested into children's sports, and children's mental
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: health benefiting as a result, it just it's really enraging.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Let's go back to the good news. I want to
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: quote you again one more time. This is the last
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: time I'm going to do it to you, but I
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: just I love how you said this because it's so
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: real and every parent has been in this kind of
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: situation you said. For me. This was highlighted at a
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: recent weekend long swimming competition that my daughter attended. Families
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: had traveled from across Victoria to a regional town and
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: crammed into a space nowhere near large enough to accommodate
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: the crowd. It was hot and stuffy, with chlorine thick
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: in the air, yet hardly anyone complained. Instead, parents helped
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: out in any way they could. One grabbed a camera
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: and took photos, another took a clipboard and hearded swimmers
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: to the marshaling checkpoint, while another checked in with everyone,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: offering coffees and snacks. As the races were conducted, parents
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: cheered on not only their own kids, but all the kids. Yeah,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: that's it was.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: It was really good to see as much as as
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: hot and stuffy as it was, because it really was.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: It was. Yeah, it was just really good to see.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: And like that was the moment where I was like,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: I need to write about this because you know, here
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: you've got like parents from all over Victoria there to
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: support their kids and their kids teammates and it's quite
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: individual sports swimming as well, so it could be quite
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: easy to get insular with it. But it was the opposite,
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: like the parents were just yet up there offering to
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: do something in any way they could whether you've been
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: a member of the club long, whether you're an official
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: person on a committee or not, or whether you just
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: saw someone it needed help with something. People worked just
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: volunteering to do that, and you know it was just
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: to help this event that all of their kids were
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: a part of run as best as it could and
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: for them to have a good time.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: His told parents who are doing such a great job.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: And to you, Shanna, thanks for writing such a positive
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: and uplifting article about the great work the parents are
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: doing and supporting their kids for their mental health, their
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: physical health and so on. Great to talk to you again.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: Really appreciate it.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: That's good.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Shona Henley is a freelance writer for the ABC,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: for the Fairfax Press and pretty much everyone else as well,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: and she wrote a fabulous, fabulous article just recently all
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: about sports parents, the good and the bad, well actually
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: only about the three percent who are bad. The Happy
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Family's podcast is produced by Justin Rowlin from Ridge Media.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Craig for to our executive producer. If you're heading up
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: with the kids in the next few days or over
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: the weekend so that they can get involved with sports,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: thanks for what you're doing. Keep being awesome and enjoy
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: that time on the sidelines. So I hope that kids
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: love the sport. If you'd like more information about making
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: you family happy, visit happy families dot com.
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: Do you