Parents in Sport Week 2022

Submitted by her son, Noah Higgins

I first started playing disc golf when I was 11 years old. I had been playing minor hockey for a number of years, along with various other sports. My mom had never heard of disc golf but I became serious about the sport very quickly so she started coming out to the course to play with me. It wasn't long before he was driving me to out-of-town tournaments. My mom not only learned how to play disc golf, but she also joined the local disc golf club a year after I did, and volunteered to serve on the board of directors. She served two years as club secretary before becoming club president, a role she has held for the last four years. After gaining some tournament experience, mom started directing tournaments here in Lethbridge and has become one of the most respected and successful tournament directors in Alberta. She is an ambassador of the sport, and she volunteers at other tournaments around the province as well, juggling that with caddying for me and being my support person, manager, and all-around greatest cheerleader.

As the Lethbridge Disc Golf Association president, mom has also led the way for the growth of disc golf in Lethbridge, as this sport exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic. She manages all this while working full-time and keeping things running at home. As I earned opportunities for myself, my mom always found a way to make sure I could have those experiences. When I was offered a spot on Team Canada in 2019, my mom found a way to get us to Europe. When I had a chance to go to Junior Worlds in the USA, she helped make this happen for me not once, but three times. I was rated the top junior player in Canada from the age of 15 until I turned 18 last ear, and I have had a lot of success as a professional disc golfer in recent years, none of which would have been possible without the love, support and dedication of my mom. As with any competitive sport, competing at a high level comes with highs and lows, successes and failures. To have someone there for every one of those moments keeps me grounded and looking forward. Not only has my mom provided financial, logistical and practical support, but she has also been my coach, my therapist, and my emotional support person through everything, and I'm grateful for the chance to give her the shout-out she deserves!

Cara Parks is the president of the Lethbridge Ringette Association, a team manager and a proud parent.

How has sport influenced you as a parent?
Growing up playing sports, you learn the value of playing on a team. As a parent, I enjoy watching my daughters participate in a true team sport. They are developing strong interpersonal skills, learning to play as a team and having a set of friends away from school (which can be extremely important, especially for girls). Participating keeps them active and engaged in physical activity which is a great life skill.

What are your proudest moments as a parent in sport?
Seeing the joy in my children’s faces when they succeed. It’s not always about winning but developing new skills and improving. Seeing their confidence grow when they are able to master a new skill is extremely rewarding. Seeing them work hard towards a goal and achieve it makes me very proud of them.

Apart from what sport has done for your child, what has brought sport to your life?
Being a part of the ringette community has allowed my daughters to make new friends, increase their confidence and learn valuable skills about receiving feedback and being a good teammate.

If you grew up playing sport, or not, how did that influence you as a parent in sport?
Growing up playing sports, you see the value it offers. We felt it was very important for our children to participate in sports, especially team sports. There are so many life skills that begin developing when you play as a team.

Any specific stories or memories you would like to share?
Kids face a number of different challenges at school. When they have bad days at school, it is nice for them to have a safe place away from it all. Having a team/friends that is different than school, gives kids an escape from the struggles they may be facing. This can be invaluable to their mental well-being and is one of the reasons sports have so much to offer kids.

From a young age I have been involved in sport. I am sure that I didn’t realize it at the time but being involved in sport helped to shape me into the individual that I am today. Over the years sport has helped me to stay active, learn what it means to have good work ethic, to work together as a team, and has fostered many friendships. Now being a parent of children who play sports I look forward to my children having these same opportunities.
As a parent my role in sport has changed drastically. I like to be actively involved and help out wherever I can. A large part of being a parent of a sports family is organizing our time and transporting children to their different events/practices. With having three children who all enjoy sports it often has me running in several directions on any given evening. I am thankful for family and friends who are able to help fill in the gaps when it is needed. Being a sport parent is a lot more than just driving everyone around though. We are there to support our children, their team, and coaches any way that we can. This might come in the form of making snacks, helping to fundraise, moving and cleaning mats, and most importantly being present to encourage them, cheer them on and support them regardless of their outcome. After all you are their biggest fan and how you handle these situations helps to develop the athletes that they will become. If you would have told me 15 years ago that I would be spending nearly
every weekend in a noisy gym cheering on my children and their teammates wrestling, I would have thought you were crazy, but now there is no other place that I would rather be.

What is your proudest moments as a parent in sport?
There have been many moments over the years when I have been proud of my kids. Most of these moments are times when they have gone out and tried their hardest even if they haven’t succeeded. In our house we always say that winning is great but you learn so much more when you loose. Each of my children are at different levels of sport. I love watching and supporting each of them. Our Youngest (10) is happy to be active and to play with his friends. His favorite sports are Wrestling and Soccer but honestly he is happy to play any sport. He is at a great age where we are happy for him to be just getting out and being active. We try to provide as many opportunities for this as possible.

Our youngest daughter (13) loves to wrestle, play volleyball, and badminton. The thing I love about her and am proud of is that she is always willing to try new things and gives her all. She may not always be the best on the team but she is always willing to put in the work. I still think about her first wrestling tournament last year where she had lost her matches but she still went out and did an exhibition match (with someone above her skill level) so that she could get more practice in. Our oldest (16) has proven to us how far hard work and dedication can get you. Her #1 sport is wrestling. This last year she has put in a lot of extra time on and off the mat. Even becoming involved in Cross Country and Rugby to help improve her wrestling. Her hard work helped her to accomplish many achievements including; a Provincial Championship, two National Silver Medals and a spot on Team Alberta wrestling team for the Canada Summer Games. We are very proud of how hard she has worked but I think the best moments were seeing her confidence in herself grow as she achieved her goals.

What is your involvement as a parent in sport?
As a parent I've just tried to give my kids as many opportunities to try sports as they can - my wife and I are not fussy on the sport of choice, rather we just think athletics are an important part of balance in life, so we encourage our kids to simply find their thing - and then work as hard as we can to facilitate it. I also have had the pleasure of coaching both hockey and more recently outdoor soccer for my kids' teams. I also volunteer as Treasurer for Southern Alberta Skating Academy - a local figure skating club my youngest daughter participates with. Specifically with weightlifting, I started that as a part of Crossfit years ago. I've never personally competed in the sport, but very much enjoy it as a part of fitness. I met Sean at Fuel Lethbridge years ago, and in the last year enrolled Calley in the Athlete Program there - a youth focus conditioning program they run that is excellent. From there, Calley made the jump to Sean's specialty Olympic Lifting classes (IX Weightlifting) and has never looked back. Sometimes being a parent is just opening a door for your kid and seeing what happens!

How has sport influenced you as a parent?
My Crossfit and Olympic lifting journey has particularly opened my eyes to why health and strength is important for longevity for us old guys. I see way too many guys my age unable to keep up with their kids because they've just let themselves go. Our kids model their behaviours after us, so being a good role model is super important in my mind. For youth, it's all about confidence. Showing these kids what they are capable of in a relatively short period of time is amazing. Being a father of girls, I feel it's extra important to build their self-confidence via sport, as in some ways I feel like they are being bombarded daily with body image messages and other negative feedback like that. Its also been great to see the impact of community and team on Calley, as the other sports she competed in as a child were also individual in nature (swim club for example) - but the mutual support/community structure of the IX Weightlifting team Sean Cassidy has built is terrific.

What are your proudest moments as a parent in sport?
Honestly, just this last weekend at the Valhalla Open - watching Calley nail her first competitive lift was amazing. Further - I was a very proud parent when she recovered from her first miss on the Clean & Jerk and she bounced back the next lift. Beyond that - I'm most proud that she has found her thing. When your child makes sport and health a priority in their life, you know you've started them on a good path.

Apart from what sport has done for your child, what has brought sport to your life?
For me personally - its such a great outlet for stress and a great break from work. I'm proud I can still push my kids on the ski hill, or out for a run. I'm also most grateful that sport is something we can share as a family. Skiing and mountain biking are wonderful because its something we can do together, outside of the competitive aspect of sport. If pushed I can still keep up to Calley on the lifting platform too...though I'll pay for it the next day!

If you grew up playing sport, or not, how did that influence you as a parent in sport?
I wasn't much of an athlete as a child, nothing really set my heart on fire, so I bounced around activities a lot until I was about 14, then I entered the teenage black hole and didn't do much until I turned 30 or so. I think that influenced me as a parent twofold. From one perspective, I certainly didn't have any preconceived notions of what my child should/shouldn't do. I'm about as far from that parent in the hockey arena screaming at the ref as you can get. That being said - my lack of history in sport probably didn't add any encouragement to my kids for their participation. Watching Calley with her Oly team now - I'm so glad she found it but I can take no credit for it - I just dropped her off one day and asked that she keep an open mind - Sean is the one who build a terrific little community which is why all these kids are so excited about Olympic lifting.