Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / One Leg Up on Disc Golf and Dyslexia With Teen Sensation Carter Ahrens Ft. Chuck Ahrens 2-27-24

Transcript

One Leg Up on Disc Golf and Dyslexia With Teen Sensation Carter Ahrens Ft. Chuck Ahrens 2-27-24 · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:02
Here's your host, Alex Garrett. All Right, well, I feel like
0:07
with spring right around the corner here on the Alex Garrett Podcast Network, you
0:11
might be interested in a sport called disc golf. Now, this is a
0:15
very unique kind of golf, and I'll have my next guest on. But
0:19
what really appealed to me about Carter, Aaron's and his family is that Carter
0:24
is a teenager that wants to do good for those with, if you will,
0:29
dyslexia and other kind of disabilities that that might hold someone back. And
0:33
Carter, thanks for joining me. First of all, yeah, thank you
0:37
for having me. Well, Carter, to start off with, you know,
0:40
dyslexia is very It's a big deal. Even the City of New York
0:44
has combat at it in our schools. But how are you combating dyslexia through
0:48
sports? I want to start there. Well, if it's okay if I
0:52
speak a little bit to that sports is giving him kind of a pathway when
0:57
school isn't really easy for him, and so sports is an outlet both for
1:03
him to when he's during had school and school's going on, to kind of
1:07
take a break from it, but also gives him a pathway to something that
1:11
he can do once school's finished, especially at the high school level, and
1:15
that is Chuck Aaron's the father of Carter. Now, Carter, I know
1:19
that you've been also doing online schooling and you're combining both academics and athletics through
1:25
online schooling. Talk about those benefits if you will. Yeah, well,
1:29
with online learning, it's way easier to get all my school done since I
1:34
can just like mold it around, like when I'm practicing and everything. So
1:38
like if I'm doing like a tournament in the afternoon, I can first start
1:46
by like doing some work in the morning, and if I don't get it
1:49
all done, I can do it later in the day. And just like
1:53
if I'm not having a tournament and just doing practicing, I can just practice
2:00
whenever then just do schoolwork at another time. It's very cool you are actually
2:06
going to compete. I believe I read twelve to different fifty twelve to fifteen
2:09
different tournaments. So tell us the preparation that goes into each tournament and how
2:15
how you do prepare for these kind of disco golf tournaments. Yeah, So
2:21
for me, every tournament, I try to practice probably three hours a day
2:28
now, and like in the morning, I try to practice like more of
2:34
putting, so that's like throwing it into the basket from close range, since
2:39
it's a little colder out than like once it gets hotter in the in the
2:45
day, I go out to like a field and just work on like drives,
2:50
so like longer shots and try to get it close to the basket.
2:54
Well, I know that you are being supported by your family by way,
2:59
and now tell us what wave it is. The Washington Virtual Academy tell us
3:01
about their role in all of this making this possible for you. Yeah,
3:07
their online thing is very nice because it's super flexible. I can do the
3:16
work whenever and I don't have like certain times to do it. It's super
3:23
flexible, and I have like only one or two Zoom meetings that I have
3:30
to do. Then those other days I can just practice whenever then just do
3:38
my school work in the other half of the day. Chuck, I want
3:43
to ask you this. You know, homeschooling is becoming sort of a trend.
3:46
But how did you know that homeschooling was the best route for Carter?
3:51
And when did that start for him? Yeah, so it started last year
3:54
and it got to the point where with him competing at such a high level,
3:59
I mean copeting on the pro tour. He's the youngest player on the
4:02
disc Golf pro Tour and competing literally all over the country. The school that
4:08
he was at was supportive, but it was hard for teachers to get work
4:12
to us, either ahead of time or during his competitions, so he wasn't
4:16
able to keep up very well. So it meant he had to do a
4:18
lot of work when he got back home to keep up. And now with
4:21
the Washington Virtual Academy, it's great because it's a public school part of the
4:29
Washington State school System, and so literally it allows him to do like you
4:33
said, you know, be really flexible with the work. You know,
4:38
it helps with us with travel because he's got really two different schedules that he
4:43
works through. If he's at home and we're just we're at home based,
4:46
he's literally doing work in the morning. He leaves for lunch and goes and
4:50
practices, comes back and does some more work, and then if he needs
4:55
so, he can do work at night. We happen to live in Seattle,
4:58
so if it's ra he'll do his schoolwork and then once the sun comes
5:01
out, he'll go. It's flexible enough that he'll go out and play and
5:05
practice at that time. So it's really it varies through the day and then
5:10
when we're on out at tournaments like we are now we're just leaving Florida.
5:15
But he was able to spend, you know, a couple of nights doing
5:17
homework, was doing homework this morning early, and during those times typically when
5:24
he has a round in the afternoon, we're getting ready for it, and
5:28
then by the end of the day he's able to do his work at night
5:30
when it's dark out. I mean, that's a big thing for us,
5:32
especially at this time of years, having him practice during the daylight and do
5:36
his homework in the evenings when it's dark out. Carter and Chuck, this
5:40
is a question for both of you. Actually, Carter, when did you
5:44
know that disc golf was going to be your passion? And Chuck when did
5:47
you know that Carter was going to be so into disc golf? Like,
5:50
I want it from both perspectives here. Yeah, I'll first by saying,
5:55
like how I got into it, and like when I knew it was what
6:00
I wanted to do. I had a babysitter that brought me and my brother
6:05
out every day for probably three summers straight, and me and my brother just
6:11
fell in love with it just seeing like a frisbee fly and it just was
6:15
super satisfying, and I just fell in love with it ever since. And
6:21
for us, you know, he had a real passion for the sport,
6:26
and that first tournament he ever played in he ended up winning. I had
6:30
had a short time that I did a sport at a pretty high level,
6:33
and I wanted to give him the same opportunity, both him and his brother.
6:38
And last year we decided to hit the pro tour a little bit and
6:43
see what would happen. And last year ended up taking a fifth place on
6:46
the Pro Tour during one of the events, and then a fifteenth place on
6:49
the tour in an elite event, which kind of just catapulted him on the
6:55
disc Off Pro Tour. So he earned a tour card this year that he
6:59
was granted and this year he's making a living. Basically, he makes a
7:03
salary, makes a living doing disc golf. So for him, it was
7:06
we got to find a way to allow him to have this career and finch
7:12
up school at the same time. So this became like the best possible solution
7:15
and the education's been fantastic. It almost seems like he gets more one on
7:20
one with his online learning, and like he said, in the Flex program
7:26
that he's in, he doesn't have to be in the actual certain times that
7:30
classes are that they're like your typical online learning would be, there's a class,
7:32
it's at two o'clock, you need to be watching at that time.
7:35
With the Flex program, it makes it nice because he can actually watch those
7:40
things later and are recorded. Carter, did you have any story actually in
7:45
golf, you know, like the nine hole or eighteen hole kind of golf?
7:48
And did Dad have an interest as well? Is that why you sort
7:51
of adapted to disc golf as well. I did not play golf at the
7:58
start, but then like now I'm started like gradually playing golf a little bit
8:05
from disc golf actually, and now I think golf is like a really good
8:11
thing. If I need to like have some time off from disc golf,
8:15
and I'm like having any time. If I just have any time off,
8:20
then I just go play golf or just do schoolwork. You know, it's
8:24
an interesting question here about the healthy work life. We've kind of been covering
8:28
that I want to know about the teammates because obviously disc golf is competitive.
8:35
Do you have teammates along with you on the course? Result only you,
8:37
right, it's kind of you just competing against the world here. Yeah,
8:43
it's me and basically your cardmates that you have. So there's four people on
8:48
a card and you just go through a round of eighteen holes. Then like
8:54
after that round, then the next day if you place well, you're on
9:00
a better card for the next day then just on and on. And I'm
9:03
actually sponsored, so I've like sponsored teammates basically that we talk to and just
9:13
hang out with. One of the most interesting things. And Dad, you
9:16
can wait in here, and as well, Chuck Aaron's you're also passing it
9:20
on to younger kids. You know that they are the younger than you with
9:26
the with disc golf. Hey, Chuck, what does that mean to see
9:28
your son become a teacher at this? And Carter, how does that help
9:33
you up your game? And does the online schooling help you become a teacher
9:37
also? Yeah, as far as you know watching it, it's fantastic.
9:41
It's great that he can really share his passion with others. We do.
9:45
We go to schools, we go to boys and girls clubs. So that
9:48
he can teach. And what's really funn is he kind of becomes a celebrity.
9:52
So we went to an elementary school and taught over four hundred kids disc
9:56
golf and installed the disc golf course at the school. And it was pretty
10:00
fun to see the kids wanting his autograph and all kinds of things because we
10:03
showed some videos of what he does and who he is beforehand, and so,
10:07
you know, that's fantastic, and he's he's in front of a camera
10:11
a lot, he's doing interviews a lot, so he's learning some things that
10:13
he might not even learn in school doing what he's doing currently, and so
10:18
that's all, you know, really fantastic life lessons for the future. And
10:22
so Carder, you can talk about that some more. Yeah, So like
10:26
online learning really helps doing that too, just because if you're like on a
10:31
trip somewhere and doing like a clinic or like helping other people and teaching other
10:41
people the sport, you can because that has like a certain time that you
10:45
have to do it, then you can just go and do that. Then
10:48
the online school really helps because you can just do the online school at a
10:54
later time, you know. When I talk and by the way, I
10:58
have one leg, so I kind of have been around those with disabilities my
11:03
whole life. So this whole dyslexia and my mom actually has dyslexi, So
11:07
this whole story of how you're overcoming it is very interesting to me. But
11:11
when we hear the words learning disabilities, I think of the word patient.
11:15
So would you say Wava has sort of helped you grow patients with this dyslexia
11:20
while you're overcoming it, and how have they been patient in this process as
11:24
you do both of these different You know, you're athletically gifted and you're academically
11:30
gifted. How does WAVA support you in both those as you're overcoming dyslexia.
11:35
Yeah, it's really nice because in a classroom, you'll have like a certain
11:39
time in every class and you might get rushed a little bit and not have
11:45
enough time to finish it what you're doing in that class period. And with
11:48
Wava, you can just you have basically unlimited time in your day to really
11:56
get what you need to do done. So like you can just do your
11:58
assignments very well with unlimited time. Yeah, the test you know, he
12:05
used to has struggles with being able to take tests in school. Because he
12:07
didn't have enough time to get through them, because with dyslexia takes them a
12:11
little bit longer, and so this allows them, you know, that that
12:15
time. And then it also is kind of nice because if he has questions,
12:18
he can either ask his teachers, he can email his teachers, or
12:22
gives them the ability to ask myself or my wife, you know, some
12:26
questions to see if we can help him understand something a little bit better.
12:30
And not only does he just have dyslexia, but he's got an executive function
12:35
disorder where his executive function skills are really low, which makes it hard for
12:41
him to kind of go through a typical directions on how to do things.
12:45
He's more about the beginning and the end. And what we found through neuropsychology
12:50
is that an interesting thing about that, And when you talk about adapting is
12:54
his visual spatial skills are kind of off the charts, really really high compared
12:58
to to most people, and the neuropsychologist skills. That's probably why disc golf
13:05
is almost it's almost a super power for him in a way to have disc
13:09
golf to do because of those skills. All right, well, what about
13:13
those listening today that might be suffering from what they call learning disability and trying
13:18
to overcome it, and they see you doing all this kick ass work and
13:24
athleticism. What's your message to them today, Carter? Yeah, with like
13:30
you can do anything with school, and if you need like extra time and
13:35
like you need it to be flexible, you can just switch to online school.
13:41
You don't always have to just stick to just ordinary public school. Dad,
13:48
do you want to weigh in on that also, the whole public version
13:52
schooling? Well? Yeah, absolutely, And I would say, you know,
13:54
for those that are struggling, the biggest thing that we could do for
13:58
Carter, you know, advocate for him. I mean that's so much of
14:01
when we've talked to others that struggle with schooling, especially when it comes to
14:05
you know, whatever the disability might be, but trying to have a parent
14:11
or some a guardian or somebody advocate for the child is so important with that.
14:16
And as far as if you have those things, I mean, there's
14:18
find a passion, find what you're passionate about, and try to make it
14:22
happen. You know, for us, it was trying to give the opportunities
14:26
for Carter to get to tournaments and other people have other things that they're passionate
14:31
about. So whether you know it's dance or football or baseball, he's had
14:35
an individual that's kind of mentored him a little bit. And what he's always
14:39
said is just show up, you know, for for Carter, show up
14:43
at the tournaments. You might not do great at everyone, but keep showing
14:46
up. So if it's dance, if it's something else, just always keep
14:48
showing up and eventually that passion will turn into something bigger over time. And
14:54
as far as you know, going from the public school to the online learning,
14:58
which is still public school, but it's just it has the flexibility and
15:03
for us, we've found how they're managing his learning disabilities have been better than
15:09
in a typical school environment just because there's more it seems like there's more one
15:13
on one time, you know, because you're actually able to set aside those
15:18
times to help. And they've been really helpful in addressing his needs. And
15:24
so that's been what's so important with the WAVA program. And if there's we've
15:28
talked to a lot of athletes out there that are in his same situation.
15:31
There's a small group of young kids that are doing the same thing and they're
15:35
starting to switch to online schooling as well, because it has that flexibility,
15:39
you're still doing the same learning. And I'd also say one of the things
15:43
we found out during COVID is Carter really excelled on online learning where his brother
15:50
didn't. You know, his brother's really much better about being in the classroom.
15:52
So he's actually you know, at a public school where we live,
15:58
and so they do it differently. Because this they both take to the type
16:00
of learning differently. So this was the best version we could see for Carter,
16:04
and he really took to it. All. Right, let's about the
16:07
Washington Let's all about Waives social atmosphere, because obviously your homeschool, but are
16:12
there times where you get to meet your classmates that you're literally in the same
16:18
programs with Is there any opportunity for that. Yeah, Like homeroom is one
16:23
of them where you can join. That's the one zoom meeting I have and
16:30
there's all the students there and you can just meet all the students in your
16:36
homeroom. And then they have a bunch of other programs outside of just their
16:41
classes that they can do, all types of different clubs and things that you
16:44
can be a part of at their school. As well. When you're at
16:48
the disc golf tournaments, though, do you find yourself socializing while focusing on
16:52
your game? Like, how has the socialization socialization been since it switched to
16:57
homeschool. Yeah, with all my tournaments I have, you basically meet a
17:04
whole group of people. And there's just so many people at every tournament,
17:10
and all the fans come up to you, so you really get a bunch
17:14
of social interaction with a lot of people. I think the million dollar question
17:21
for me is because you know, I was around college athletics and all that,
17:23
Hey, are you keeping an eye on whether disc golf will become like
17:27
a sport in college or intramural? And is college and the plans for you
17:33
Carter and then Chuck, you can to answer that too. Uh not for
17:37
me. College is not for me. Basically, I just really don't really
17:45
have a drive to do college. So and I'm already making a salary.
17:52
So basically I just am gonna stick with disc golf after school and after I'm
17:59
done with this, wava I can. I'm based, I'm on the pro
18:03
tour right now. Then I can really hit it hard and travel everywhere and
18:08
just like a graduation age or what is there a graduation that that comes with
18:14
WAVA that that people should know about. Yeah, graduation is just like regular
18:18
high school. So he'll end up going through next year. The one cool
18:22
thing that Waba is allowing him to do is he's gonna end up taking a
18:26
couple of classes this summer to lighten his load for next year, to make
18:30
it even easier for him to be on the road and focus more on the
18:33
disc golf, which is great. But I will say disc golf is now
18:37
a college sport and there's scholarships being offered for it as well, and there's
18:41
a big national disc golf tournament for a collegiate disc golf tournament that had I
18:47
think this year, what six over six hundred players in it something like that.
18:52
But yeah, it's a it's a big deal now and there's scholarships and
18:53
actually Carter's brother is planning on he goes to college next year and will be
18:59
on a collegiate disc golf team. All right, well, you're on the
19:02
pro tour, you're what sixteen years old, I believe or seventeen, and
19:06
you're the youngest, So what does that mean for both of you? When
19:08
you read the headline Carter, Aaron's youngest pro you know on the tour that
19:14
that's something that's got to be exciting and makes you proud both of you.
19:19
Yeah, you're the youngest out of hundreds of people playing on the disc Golf
19:26
Pro Tour. But then locally there's a bunch of young juniors also up and
19:32
comers that are playing some of the pro Tour tournaments. Like I have someone
19:37
from Seattle, he's seventeen and he was just at this Pro Tour event and
19:41
we always play together. Knowing that you're the youth on the pro tour doesn't
19:49
mean you're always going to be so you always basically need to practice and just
19:56
practice and get really good so you can just do better on the pro Tour.
20:03
Yeah, it's been kind of fun, is you know, once he
20:04
started doing really well and people got to know him, the amount of autographs
20:08
that he started signing, and you would think it was just kids, but
20:11
it's a lot of adults looking to get his autographed for stuff. So it's
20:15
been pretty fun to see that, and you know, it makes us his
20:18
parents proud. You know that he's passionate about something and doing so well in
20:22
it. But what's been cool is. Over his career, he's had a
20:26
lot of firsts. So at twelve years old, he set the world record
20:29
for distance at thirteen and under. Thirteen, he was the first player ever
20:33
in history, the youngest player in history to reach a oneenty ten rating.
20:38
You know, he is the first the youngest to ever get fifth on a
20:41
tour event, those kind of things. So he's got a lot of really
20:45
cool milestones that he set that are what's really nice is the people that are
20:49
coming after him now are looking to break and we've got a player that we
20:53
know that has actually broken a couple of his records as well. So that's
20:59
really fun to see when people are doing that. All right, as a
21:02
parent, obviously in the homeschooling world, how do you let Carter be a
21:07
kid? Still? I mean, obviously he's doing all this stuff. How
21:08
do you let him be a kid? I think listeners might want to know.
21:14
Yeah, that's one of the interesting questions because he's competed at a very
21:18
young age at a very high level. So it's one of the few sports
21:22
maybe besides like a gymnastics where he's competing against true on adults. And so
21:27
at twelve years old, he was playing at local as a local pro on
21:33
against you know, adults, and so you know that's been you know,
21:37
a super interesting piece of this is how do you grow up, you know,
21:41
in the sport, and that he's constantly with adults and around adults,
21:45
and for us, it was you almost started thinking about him more and more
21:48
as an adult and we had to take a step back and be like,
21:52
you know what, this guy's still a kid. And so if you look
21:55
when he watches movies, they're kids movies, you know, and stuff like
21:57
that. So it's kind of fun to have those when he actually is being
22:00
a kid because he's just constantly in the adult world trying to compete against the
22:06
dolls, trying to beat the best in the world. And he's got he's
22:08
got competitors that make a million dollars a year that he's competing against and there
22:12
dan good. So you know, for him, it's really trying hard to
22:18
eventually one day get to that level. And he's showing, he's showing that
22:22
he can do it. And so as he continues to grow and get better,
22:25
it'scause it's just going to get better and better for that as well.
22:26
Carter, what's the best what about you how do you feel do you feel
22:30
like you're able to be a kid while going through all this? I got
22:33
to ask, Yeah, I feel like I can. I can do basically
22:37
anything I want as a kid, and I can just some of my friends
22:45
also want to be able to be on the tour, so they we basically
22:52
just practice all the time together and just like have fun conversations together. All
23:00
I would say sports is a good way to say out of trouble. Wouldn't
23:02
you both agree? Absolutely, it is a very good way. He spends
23:07
more time on the disc golf course than really anywhere else, and then if
23:08
he's at home, he's watching videos and things about either how he played or
23:14
how others played that he wants to emulate. So absolutely, Now I don't
23:18
know if you want angels, but what well, I'm curious to know the
23:21
weather. Is there a typical kind of weather that they like to play this
23:25
sporting because it is an outdoor sport, right, Yeah, Like though for
23:30
me the best weather is like the best weather for me to have fun in
23:36
is a nice sunny day, but for actually being from Seattle, Washington,
23:41
it rains all the time there. So like if I'm in a pro tour,
23:45
tournament. I would rather have it like rain so I can have an
23:51
advantage on the field. Has has your hometown kind of considered you a prodigy?
23:57
And what is that? How do you step take a step back from
24:00
that and say, well, I'm only seventeen. I might be that,
24:03
but I'm also you know, human? What tell us about that? Is
24:06
there sort of labels on you now, Carter, that you're a big star
24:10
in your hometown. Yeah, it's funny. Everywhere, Like I go around
24:15
us, there's at least one or two people that know me at every single
24:18
course, which is funny being just sixteen having adults come up to me and
24:25
just want my autograph, and everybody that comes to tournaments locally just like knows
24:33
me, And just it's cool being knowing that I'm just sixteen and everybody knows
24:40
me. Chuck, I love that you have Carter available to talk because there's
24:45
a good way to break in with the communication skills and what And I think
24:48
you know as he gets older, he'll need that, right, the communication
24:51
skills. Yeah, that's that's super important for in disc golf. Growing your
24:56
brand is the term that we use all the time, and growing a big
25:00
part of growing your brand is getting people to like you as a person,
25:06
and so communication skills are a big part of that. And once he took
25:10
fifth on the event last year, on the Pro Tour event, he was
25:14
stuck in front of cameras, you know, instantly, like a couple of
25:15
weeks after. So it's been fun to watch, I mean, for him
25:21
in front of a camera and doing so well knowing some of the you know,
25:25
the learning disabilities that he does have, but being able to talk disc
25:27
golf and something he's passionate about and help get other people interested and interested in
25:33
him, in who he is and his personal brand are all important things for
25:37
making this a career. Guys, I'm seeing him throw the first pitch out
25:40
of the Seattle Mariner game this year. What do you guys think he might
25:45
be throwing this out of it? That's for sure. He's thrown at the
25:48
Rainier Stadium. He's thrown this out of the field in front of people,
25:52
So that is so cool. Well as a human on the human side,
25:56
then, Carter, is there any favorite sports that you like that that maybe
26:00
when you're not doing disc golf that you're you're following intensely. Yeah, when
26:06
I'm not doing disc golf. I love watching football. I think it's a
26:10
really fun thing to watch, and basically playing golf whenever I can when I'm
26:18
not on the disc golf course. Now, did you both grow up Seattle
26:21
fans? I'm guessing right, the Mariners, Seahawks, and even super Sonics
26:25
back in the day. Chuck, Yeah, I moved there about twenty five
26:27
years ago, so it's a little bit after the SuperSonics or I guess shortly
26:33
after they went away. But for us, yeah, definitely Seahawks and Mariners
26:40
fans. Well, this is this has been very cool and it's so exciting
26:44
to get to talk to you guys. What's the toughest question do you face?
26:48
You faced Carter in your press tour if you will, Uh, I
26:56
don't really know. That is a few of them. I think a lot
27:03
of times people are asking, you know, what's the key to being sixteen
27:06
and being able to throw how he does? And sometimes it's hard to put
27:08
that into words. He just kind of goes out and does it. Now,
27:14
Chuck, how do you how do you coach your son? I mean,
27:17
do you feel like you're coaching him on and off the field and in
27:19
and out of the classroom? Right, So how are you able to coach
27:22
him? And does it take a little patience for you as well, you
27:26
know, working with Carter on these different projects and whatnot. Yeah, I
27:30
mean a little bit patience is definitely important, especially for you know, I
27:34
can't coach him much on the disc golf course because I don't play myself.
27:38
But what I'm able to do is watch and so I can pick up on
27:42
things that are working and things that aren't working that he doesn't maybe know is
27:47
happening. So I'm able to do that. But disc golf is so mental.
27:51
The mental side of it is a big piece of it. So when
27:53
you can start to overcome, you know, things like getting angry when things
27:57
aren't going your way and just being patient that year round will eventually come to
28:02
you. Your disc golf game will come back to you and just throw what
28:04
you know, those are the important things and that's what we try to coach
28:08
on. You know. I gotta say this, Parenting in sports has kind
28:14
of become controversial because everybody's so riled up at these little league games and whatnot.
28:18
So I feel like you're you're bringing a new face to the parenting in
28:22
sports world. Chuck so that's good because we gotta we gotta say that parents
28:26
are vital in their kid sports, right. Oh, absolutely, we just
28:29
need to sometimes stay out of the way. And you know, so for
28:32
us, it's just hey, do you know that this is happening? What
28:33
do you think of this? A lot of what we do is just ask
28:37
questions, you know about his game, whether it's currently or what's happening.
28:40
Hey, do you think that's the right disc do you what about this?
28:45
But for him, you know, we're letting him make a lot of those
28:47
decisions with just some reminders or some some questions and not trying to tell him
28:52
what to do because he knows better than anyone. Uh is wava great for
28:56
both of you in the terms of trying to and in terms of homeschooling,
29:02
because I feel like homeschooling another thing in the news getting a bad rap.
29:04
But here, you guys are success stories. So as weave a sort of
29:07
changing the game for homeschooling, i'd like both of your insert on that.
29:12
Absolutely. I think you know, we've been talking to a lot of people
29:15
about the program, and so different folks in different sports are starting to explore
29:19
it, especially since the school district that we were in got rid of their
29:25
online schooling program WAB, but became one of our few choices and we're so
29:29
glad that we went with him. You know, not only from the public
29:32
school aspect, but the platform and the people. I mean, the teachers
29:36
are phenomenal. That teach you know, the people are great. So they've
29:40
the teachers, counselors, the people that are directors of the program have all
29:44
been fantastic and nothing but great and what we have been able to do and
29:48
allowing Carter to do this, Carter, any thoughts to add to that,
29:56
Yeah, I would just say everything. Everybody is so nice in that online
30:00
schooling and just having it being so flexible and just everything about it is just
30:08
super easy to do. If you're an athlete and you don't have that flexible
30:15
of a schedule. When I hear that you're salaried, I'm sure every seventeen
30:18
year old wants to be a salaried athlete on a pro tour. But that
30:23
takes work, doesn't it. Yeah, Like I started when I was six,
30:29
and I've probably spent at least thirty hours a week I think every year.
30:42
Wow, that's that's amazing, Chuck, that that and you guys in
30:47
the pitch. You guys are so dedicated to him. When did you when
30:52
did you latch on and say, you know what, Carter, we're gonna
30:53
we're gonna do this. What was that six? Was it earlier? Was
30:56
it about twelve? Like, when did you guys say, all right,
31:00
invested this with you? Yeah, when he was nine, he ended up
31:03
going to Junior Worlds and consecutively took something like a third place and a second
31:10
place, and so we knew really early on that, you know, there
31:12
was something special there. But as we started to put him against you know,
31:17
adults, he was winning a lot. And once he started winning some
31:21
of the bigger events, we we said, hey, let's just try the
31:23
pro tour. And everything we've done for him has been playing against people that
31:29
are better than him, which has made him. That was the right way
31:33
to do it, you know. We always questioned, hey, should we
31:34
move him up to the next level this early, and then six months later
31:38
he would win at that level and so we were knew we were doing things
31:42
right because he's learning from players that are better than him and you know adults
31:45
and what they do. So, uh, that's been a big, you
31:48
know, big part of it in doing it, and so that's kind of
31:51
how we knew that, Hey, he kept winning and winning. We went
31:52
to the pro first couple of Pro Tour events, did well, and literally
31:56
the first you know year that he's in the first six months of being on
32:00
last year's Pro Tour, he takes a fifth and a fifteenth, and we
32:06
knew things were really ready to blow up from there. Do either of you
32:09
see a day where Carter might actually, you know, go to tournaments on
32:14
his own, like when he's a little older. Do you see that happening
32:16
or will you guys stay by his side or will there be some independence if
32:21
you will, he'll be able to travel on his own. What are your
32:22
thoughts on that? Is there an expectation on that? Yeah? So for
32:28
me right now, I'm sixteen, I could easily get my driver's license then
32:31
travel to other tournaments and stuff, but I've actually chosen not to do Driver's
32:38
ED and do all that stuff just to have that extra practice. Then when
32:44
I turn eighteen, I can just take a test and get my driver's license
32:49
without doing all that all those classes, and then like after that I could
32:55
possibly go to like local tournaments in even further and Chuck, is it a
33:04
daunting thought that he might travel on his own day or are you encouraging that
33:07
along the way here? Yeah, it'll be. On one hand, it's
33:10
going to be a sad, you know point, just because it's so fun
33:14
to watch him. But yeah, he's going to need that independence. And
33:16
you know, the one really cool thing is he's got some friends that are
33:21
kind of following in his footsteps, and they've all already kind of made plans
33:25
that they want to be together on tour. So who knows, they might
33:29
have a big RV and four dudes just rolling around at seventeen, eighteen,
33:34
nineteen years old, I'm going to play in these tournaments. So but that's
33:37
I'm sure that's coming before we know it. And I'm sure, because you've
33:39
been there in the teenage years, you want him to have that experience,
33:43
don't you. Yeah? Absolutely, Well this has been great. One last
33:46
thing because I got to say, you're sixteen year you're on the tour,
33:50
you got fa do you have any fangirls? I gotta ask if you got
33:52
girls on the tour. I'm being after you. I gotta ask that,
33:57
Uh not really, it's all it's basically just guys that coming up to me.
34:06
Yeah, as fans, Yeah, that are asking for autographs and stuff.
34:08
There's not a lot of you know, there's not a ton of women
34:12
in disc golf. We it's growing and growing more and more, so we
34:15
definitely welcome that. Very cool. Well, thank you both for this,
34:20
and I would definitely would love to have you back on as as you go
34:23
through a few of these tours, come back on and tell us how he
34:25
did. Yeah, that'd be cool. What a great story of Carter and
34:34
Chuck Aaron's and I just told him as they were hanging up for Carter,
34:37
always cherish his parents. You know, my dad at three years old and
34:43
on a walk around one leg, said you're gonna run, and he put
34:45
me in the pewe races when I was just three years old. So I
34:49
felt a sort of symbiosis between what Carter's going through and how his family's supporting
34:53
him and through my journey as well. And so there you have it.
34:58
Always cherish your parents. They're gonna be by your side even when you empty
35:02
the nest. And I've learned that over the last few months moving in with
35:06
Gabby in Port Washington, that my mom and my stepdad Vic always there for
35:10
me as they always have been for the last twenty five plus years, and
35:15
mom thirty plus years on the Alex Garrett Podcast Network