The success of the O'Fallon cross country and track programs over the past few years has caused tremendous excitement (Colin Boyle photo)
Greetings to you all. My name is Gary Chappel. I am a former high school track and cross country athlete from long ago (Alton High, class of 1981!) Though I still believe I had the talent to be an elite runner, I never quite made it there. I ended high school with personal bests of 9:18, 4:21 and 2:00. I competed in five state championships (3 track and 2 cross country) and never won a medal.
After high school my attention very quickly got taken from running to surviving life. I paid little to no attention to what was going on in the world of high school running. That all changed when my children got to middle school and started getting involved in sports. We live in the Edwardsville school district and it is exciting to follow all sports- especially track and cross-country. Since I started following the teams they have won multiple state trophies and had multiple all-state performers. (Not to mention O’Fallon and coach Jon Burnett’s achievements or the fine crew of freshmen that Coach Curvey had at Alton last season.) Southwestern Illinois is a hotbed of track and cross country talent and it is incredibly fun to follow! So I’m back baby and loving every minute of it!!!
Upon my return I quickly noticed many similarities and many differences to the running scene from the late 70’s, early 80’s. A wise man once told me that “children are excellent recorders of events, but lousy interpreters.” My return to the running scene has given me a different perspective on the events of my life from 1975-1981. It is these new perspectives that I plan on blogging about.
But before I get to that, I’d like to address any fellow parents that happen to read this. When my daughter made the basketball team at the beginning of her 6th grade year, our family life was forever changed. Practice every day after school for two hours. Getting her picked up (we live outside of town) after practice so she could get home quicker to do her homework. There are Saturday morning practices (30 minutes roundtrip to drop off and then to pick up 2 hours later! This includes games 2-3 times a week. Having to watch the 8th graders play because we couldn’t sign her out till after they played… then our son Jordan made the 8th grade team 8 weeks later, the crazy schedule got crazier. I loved it! My wife had to choose to embrace the craziness.
Ultimately, I saw it all as one big opportunity to parent my children. An open door if you will to speak into their lives. During the first 10 years of being a parent I struggled with depression. I was emotionally distant and negligent. As a result I’ve been making up for lost ground ever since. But sports gave me and incredible opportunity to make up some of this lost ground. There was the time driving home after games and practice. Evaluating their feelings after a tough lose or big win. Helping the deal with differences they had with the coaches. The list goes on and on.
Several years ago, I had a conversation with the retired president of Greenville College. During our twenty-minute conversation I asked him, “Which is more important, the knowledge one gets in obtaining a Bachelor’s degree or the process of getting the information?” His quick response was that without a doubt the process was far more important. It really is more about the journey than it is getting to the destination. Our kids need guidance and direction in understanding this. There will be goals that will not be achieved- progress that will be perceived as too little. Injuries, frustrations and exhaustion! And the truth is that all of things will be present in other areas of their lives for the rest of their lives. So let’s help them now to learn how to properly deal with these perceived negatives. The door is wide open!