Mentorship

So Sunday afternoon I received a phone call from someone I have not heard from in 4 years.

Let me take you back...

I was a track and field Coach at Hilton Head High School from 2000-2004. During that time period I spent a lot of time mentoring student athletes. Not just in track, but in life situations. In 2004 Bluffton High School opened it's doors and I became a coach there. Meanwhile a few of my fellow Hilton Head athletes also went to Bluffton High.

One person in particular, Let's call him Justin, was a good kid, but was a follower, a playa, and needed guidence, in school, in life, in everything.

I coached and tried to guide Justin as if he were my own kid, as I did all my athletes. During Justin's senior year, he became inelegable to compete on the team and I never saw him during the season. After that season I stepped down to open my personal training studio.

I always wondered what happened to Justin...did he ever make it to college, is he not in jail somewhere, is he even still alive? Well, as I said, Sunday I received a call. Guess who it was from? You're correct...Justin! He got my cell phone number from Henry, another one of my former athletes that I keep in touch with. Henry goes to school at Coastal Carolina. It turn out that Justin had transfered from a school in New York to Coastal Carolina, and found Henry. Justin called me for one reason...

He wanted to know what he had to do to qualify for the Olympic trials, because he has been training hard, and is trying to get a scholorship to run for Coastal. He said to me... "Coach, I need help and I'm turning to those who helped me in the past". Then he said..."I learned that from you", and this is why he was calling me.

Do you have any idea how good that made me feel? That is the reason why I coached in the first place, for times like that. This is also why I help transform people's lives now, both inside and out. It's not about the workouts I take you through. It's not about how I make you do this exercise and that exercise. It's simply about helping you, molding you, mentoring you to become the person I know you truly want to be, inside and out.

Everyone needs a mentor. I had many myself. Unfortunately many of mine are gone. But they all died as good people. To name a few...my father taught me to always help others. Coach McGarvy, my 8th grade track coach, taught me to never give up and go for whatever I believe in. Coach Smith, someone I had the honor of coaching with at Thomas Worthington High School in Ohio, taught me that there is no limit to goals and to never stop reaching for them.

These are just a few. Everyone needs mentors! Everyone. No matter what age you are, we all need them to help us grow.

So I ask you...who are YOUR mentors, past and present?