Observations from Aggieland | Social Media
I had the complete pleasure of spending a Friday thru Sunday in Aggieland – otherwise known as College Station, Texas, as the big kids and I were attending Senior Gulf Champs for a swim meet. This is a prelim/final swim meet attended by all of the usual teams we normally see – teams from just North of Conroe, to Humble/Kingwood, to Beaumont, Port Lavaca, Deer Park, Pearland, Katy, Sugar Land, Spring/Klein, CyFair….you get the picture. A few exciting ads this year are from Colorado and Arizona. So it’s a pretty good sampling of people. All swimmers are 15 years old and older, everyone for the most part is pretty dog-gone fast. There are just different levels of fast. We’ve seen swimmers that are “just exercising” all the way to a few “junior national times” achieved AND we’ve also seen some wicked fast Olympic Trial cuts achieved. Just fast swimming…….
As I’m sitting in the stands at the BEAUTIFUL Texas A&M University Student Recreation Center, trying very hard to work, my eyes keep wandering to the swimmers in the water, as well as the swimmers/parents sitting around me. I’ve made quite a few observations this weekend while hanging out with this incredibly diverse group of people. You know…..watching people’s social (media included) skills LIVE.
Parents | I don’t understand sitting in the stands for 3 days in a row, from 8 in the morning to 9 at night, and NOT sitting with your team. Seriously? Are you SO into your own kid’s performances that you can’t sit with and cheer on your swimmer’s teammates? You know those teammates that they probably spend more time with than you? I just don’t get it, I know I’m relatively social, but geeez – so are these people. I see some that sit off by them selves as if they are too good to sit with “the masses” – need to look REALISTICALLY at those times again…..
Teen Swimmers | Those dang earphones. Really? You are NOT in school, NOT being preached at or coached. Take the time and get to know the swimmers that you spend 3-4.5 hours with a day, that share your passion of swimming. You can’t socialize when you are face down in the water staring at that little black line. Turn the dang music off, pack up your earphones and practice the social skills that you need to home for later on in life. And your music isn’t that good anyway – ha!
Social Skills | Wow. Should I have said, “Lack there of?” As a native Texan and Aggie – yes, I bleed Maroon – there are just some things that I expect from the youth of today. Guys – hold the dang door open for girls. I don’t care if they are a 4 years old with untied shoelaces and dragging a teddy bear, someone you hang with daily or a little old lady fighting an umbrella in this blustery, rainy weather. Hold the door open. You never know when you are going to make someone’s day. Your mom should have taught you that by 15. Pay attention. Yes, it matters. Girls – you can’t whine about the guys “not noticing you” if you are constantly staring at a phone, texting about how cute the guy is WHILE he’s sitting next to you. Yes, we know you are doing it. Here’s an idea – TALK TO HIM. With words, this is NOT the time to hone your social media skills. Try practicing those VERBAL skills. When you are older and in a meeting at your office of choice, you will not be able to text (if we are lucky). You’ll have to depend on your interpersonal skills that almost every last one of you are lacking. Including my own kids – yes, I said it.
Social Skills & Competition | In “the old days,” we were expected to root on our teammates (and mean it), not sit in the stands being unsociable, listening to music, and staring at the ground in hopes that no one would talk to us. That was simply not acceptable. Were we competitive with each other? HELL YEH we were. You ALWAYS try to improve your time, but we swam for bragging rights as well as “beating the clock.” In the water, it was no holds barred. This was a very important meet. These kids work all year long for meets like this one. Some are trying to simply better their times, while some are vying for Junior National cuts and Olympic Cuts. It’s the same sport, just different levels of goals. A little extra support from teammates would do nothing BUT HELP! Try it, you might get it back in return.
Digital Social Media Skills | Wow. Where do I go with this one? Parents – do you have a clue what your kids put on Facebook and YouTube? Really. Most of my friends have their kids’ passwords and SAY they are watching their kids’ pages – but there is NO FREAKING WAY they are. The only way kids are going to learn REAL social skills, is if someone calls them out on their behaviors. Like their parents. Like their coaches. Am I saying ride their butts all the time, no? They have to learn from their social mistakes, but I’ve seen some REALLY rough things – socially rough, not illegal/mean rough – this weekend. I really feel if some of these parents were watching what their kids were writing sometimes, it would get better. Now, some of these parents need to grow a backbone and actually “discipline” their kids as it helps them learn. They’ll still talk to you. REALLY. If they want to eat……
Now……Alexandra – get that 7 paragraph, re-post off your front page. Really.
Let the Controlled Chaos Begin!
School has started and the controlled chaos has begun. Summer is always an exciting time for kids (and their parents) because “they don’t have to go to school,” yet sometimes if you think about it, summer can be more chaotic than the school year because of lack of structure.
NOW that the school-year induced structure is back, it’s a serious game of logistics involving who needs to be where, at what time, and with whom? Football and swimming have started and we are full steam ahead. With high school swimming getting cranked up this week – GO DAWGS – that’s just one more element added to the swimming mix.The big kids bolt immediately upon arriving home from school for swim practice that is in southern Sugar Land (yes – Sugar Land is big enough to have northern and southern sections). Chase driving has been such a blessing because I get to actually acknowledge #3 (Grant) when he gets home from school. That being said, the insurance on a 16 year old boy in a truck is quite interesting, but we have a great insurance agent in Sugar Land, thank goodness.
Fort Bend Gridiron Football has been such an incredible experience this year with the league experiencing huge growth. In its inaugural year, the league had 100 players, and now our numbers are over 500. What a GREAT pat on the back for this group of football enthusiasts that thought this league was something Fort Bend County needed. As a zoned league, meaning players are required to play for the zone that will feed their high school. Yes, I said it. Zoned. No recruiting. Positive coaches are instilling the love for the game with these boys – it’s great to see. With Bucky Richardson at the helm (WHOOOOP!), the television and radio exposure for the league has been awesome! Saturday is the first game day for this year for this league, and the boys are so excited and ready to go. GO Bulldogs! (And Ridgepoint, George Ranch and Clements Zones!)
With the Aggies potentially moving to the SEC (or some other conference), it’s proves to be a great swimming and football season for the Remy family. Gig ‘Em………….stay tuned.
10 Commandments for Parents of Athletes
This list of 10 just dropped into my inbox and is something each and every one of us should have tattooed to our hands at meets, practices…..just every day! Something I need to really read and re-read. Dave Thomas, USA Swimming, visited First Colony Swim Team (FCST) and shared this with parents and coaches. It’s really, really good stuff for all parents to remember:
10 Commandments for swim parents:
1. Don’t impose ambitions on kids
2. Be supportive no matter what
3. Don’t coach your kid
4. Only provide positive feedback
5. Acknowledge fears, but try not to give them yours
6. Don’t criticize officials
7. Respect the coach (Coaching is not a profession, it’s a calling)
8. Remain loyal to a team
9. Find goals other than winning
10. Don’t expect Olympians or full ride college scholarships, you don’t need to be an Olympian to learn life lessons.
Do I think this is JUST FOR SWIMMING? Absolutely not. I could (and will) change this to “Parents of ALL Budding Athletes.” How many times have you looked out onto a practice field (or pool) and noticed a parent that is CLEARLY “living through their child.” Maybe fulfilling some dream or aspect of their life that never took shape? And number 8……….remain loyal to a team. That is something that will have to be another blog, another day – hmph. Football. Hmph! Times are changing in our area by the way! Check out Fort Bend Gridiron Football – a new youth football program in the Sugar Land area in their second year. Registrations are ongoing now – visit their website!
I think maybe I’ll expand on this list of 10 statements each week. Just maybe……….just thought I’d share today though!
It’s Just that Time of Year!
Christmas holidays. WOW. They are already here – I can’t believe it. Tough weekend for the Austin High School swim team. The team left Thursday after school for TISCA – a state-like meet in San Antonio. It’s supposed to be a fun time and an “out of the ordinary” meet for the swimmers. A “get you out of your comfort zone” meet for the kids. Sounds like the ride up there was uneventful for the swimmers, can’t say that for the coaches. Riding in a 12 passenger van with 9-10 high school swimmers can’t POSSIBLY be easy. They arrived safely at the hotel, and I’m sure after normal high school kid antics, got a good nights’ sleep because they swam GREAT at prelims. After prelims, Chase checked in as he was supposed and he was pretty pumped. He had made it to finals in his 200 breast. We chatted, I enjoyed his excitement and he got off the phone to walk in to lunch.
Chase called again about an hour later all fired up because one of their two vans were broken into. Nice. I attended lunch with them last year. This a great strip mall with multiple stores and eateries offering a choice for 20+ swimmers. NOT a slimy, scummy, dark place. A quite clean and nice place if I call correctly. Since the swimmers were between prelims and finals, they still have their “swim bags” with them. Now these bags…….are something else. They are very large, Speedo backpacks ($80)s with a million pocket for wet and dry items. Most of these kids could probably live out of them food wise for a week or so due to the snacks, drinks, and other sundries they continually pack. If you don’t know………swimmers eat A TON! At first Chase was just mad that someone had broken in and stolen their swim bags. First question. “Chase, tell me you guys all still have your suits on.” “Yes m’am.” WHEW…….then we started talking about what was in their bags. Googles (3 pair at $20-24 each), another suit (call that $30-35), team sweat suit ($100 – yes, parents bought the suits, not the school), towels (who cares), various sentimental caps, chemistry homework/review and book (oooops), history book (another ooooops), and the big loss……..the iTouch ($350). And that’s just Chase. Other swimmers lost school backpacks FULL of school books, binders, exam reviews. The coaches had tests and homework to grade upon arrival at the hotel after the meet. You know….life goes on. 911 was called, reports filed, and the swimmers settled and kept checking in.
At this point on Friday, there is nothing that can be done other than to buy some goggles, grab a towel from the hotel and get your head back in the game. Right? Some settled more than others and there were some good swims. Back to the hotel for dinner and sleep, and to pack what the kids had left for the next day’s prelims.
Chase checked back in after prelims. He swam okay and had evidently participated in some burrito eating contest at Freebirds with some of the other guys. High school antics – thus the “swam okay.” Have you ever seen the SuperMonster burrito at Freebirds? Check it out online. You’ll understand. The team warms down and off to lunch. After much discussion and planning on the coaches and chaperones’ part, they decide to go to a restaurant where they can see the vans as EVERYTHING (that was left) was now in the “good van” now because they had checked out of the hotel. Some parents took their kids’ stuff and put it in their cars. But again…..there were 20+ kids plus the coaches’ bags (one of which was stolen).
GUESS WHAT? As they were sitting in a completely different restaurant, completely different parking lot…….different day, two guys with screwdrivers try to break in to the GOOD VAN!! A hero of a dad jumps up when he saw feet standing under the van and runs out there………here they go again. Call 911 – at this point the poor head coach was seriously annoyed – and he called the number supplied to him the day before. And guess what. The SAME cop shows up. I would have LOVED knowing what was going through HIS head. When Chase checked in with THIS story, I’m thinking there is NO FLIPPIN’ way this is happening like he’s telling me. Guess it did……..
It’s just that time of the year where you have to watch your back all the time. These people were praying on children. When I blog, I try to share something important, funny, newsworthy or just something that annoys me. Sometimes I tie in clients that I’m working with website-wise and the only clients i can tie in to this one are my insurance agent in Spring (wouldn’t want to be handling the auto insurance claims on this one) and my Houston bail bond client – Andy Glenn Bail Bonds. I bring these 2 clients up because it kind of makes me mad at the thought of these robbers getting caught, and then getting out on bail to terrorize someone else. Come on. These are swim bags……who wants the junk in there? Stinky, smelly, chlorinated (natatorium chlorine smell is the worst) towels and suits. I know they didn’t know what was in there, and I’m sure they saw this nice looking group of kids get out of the vans on nice phones, plugged into iPods, dressed decently all-be-it probably still wet-headed, but come one………..some parent failed miserable somewhere in these robbers’ lives.
Merry Christmas – yes I said it – not Happy Holidays to these swimmers and coaches, right? And for the parents (like me) that are receiving texts/emails today with a child still realizing what was in his bag – like his practice suit for TODAY’s practice. Oh well. Live and learn. Lesson today: don’t like anything visible in the car. Call your car insurance or home insurance company and find out if this had happened to you, and you have a low deductible, could you have claimed it? You should know………good luck!
And – GO AUSTIN BULLDOGS Swim Team!
Sports: Coaches & Parents
Our youngest is into football and I’m having a blast with the pee-wee footballers. They are still so enthusiastic about life. EVERYTHING is a big deal. They still share – these kids are 2nd and 3rd graders – everything with such a passion. Where does that passion go? One our players – I just adore him – his enthusiasm about everything is precious and NOT annoying. I call him Kamakazi Sam……..he’ll do anything they ask him to. And for the most, he tries his hardest. It doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty cute.
This is a GREAT story Coach!
You can see from his face that whatever he’s telling Coach is VERY exciting to him. That’s so cool. Youth sports can be so influential in these little kids’ lives and this coach is taking the time to listen. I wish everyone felt that way, because there are just some people out there that should NOT be coaching young children. No one is perfect and coaches, good and bad, hurt kids’ feelings all the time. Last week, while I was watching a kids’ pitch baseball game, I could hear some pee wee football coaches that were absolutely out of control. I felt so bad for the players, mainly because the players could not possibly be mature enough to handle what was being dealt their way. Why do some coaches have to scream, cuss, and verbally berate athletes? Who learns this way? Seriously, does anyone? I’ve participated in sports with a few different types of players. There are the ones that get fired up from all the yelling because they are self-motivated, and want to please. Some players get so mad that they foul out, get ugly on the field or court or take it out on someone during play. Then you have the players that just shut down because they think you hate them because you are yelling at them. There is such a fine line……….seems these days, some coaches don’t recognize that ALL KIDS are different.
I’m okay with instilling the fear of God, Coach, Mom and/or Dad into kids. Matter of fact, I think it’s good for kids to be a bit scared of their parents and coaches. Discipline is really okay. A little bit of fear of getting in trouble with a parent or coach can’t possible hurt THAT much, can it? But in this day and age where parents are trying to be best-friends with their kids, who disciplines them? My best friend listens, but she sure doesn’t discipline me – and if she tried……………..whoa Nelly! And the coaches that try to be their players best friends…….that doesn’t help either. As a mom of a daughter, frankly that scares me. There’s time AFTER graduation to be friends with coaches on a social level.
Where are we missing it as parents and coaches? In my mind the electronic age DEFINITELY has something to do with it. These kids can’t communicate – they are growing up staring at tiny little screens on their phones and are “plugged in” to their mp3 players all the time so they can’t possibly hear someone trying to communicate with them. My kids plug in just like everyone else’s kids do. We have house rules and we don’t allow devices at the dinner table or in the car……no wait. I’m fine with not communicating at 5:00am in the morning on the way to swim practice – HA! Dinner table and the car………..is that enough? Probably not.
I think all teachers and coaches that work with kids under the age of 16 or so, should have to go to some type of training prior to stepping into the practice or competition arena – psychological classes on kids. After the training, those coaches that don’t have kids of their own, should have to spend at least a week with a family where mom and dad go out of town. Seriously, understanding the dynamics of kids, whether it is social or competitive behaviors (or lack there of), is so integral to being a great coach in my opinion. Look at some of the greats – a few of them were obnoxious yellers and tantrum throwers. But when you talk to their players, almost everyone of them will tell you that they knew those coaches loved them and truly cared about them. The ones that help you finish college. The ones that come visit when you have your first child. The ones that keep up with you as you continue to grow outside of their world. But what do you think the players of these yelling monsters in pee wee sports would say if you could GUARANTEE them anonymity? For most, I don’t think it would be positive.
I can’t imagine not liking kids and trying to coach. I’ve talked to so many coaches that really just don’t like kids – I think they are CRAZY to continue coaching. I would have to call myself a liar if I sat here and told you that I like ALL KIDS and ALL AGES. Of course, I have my favorites, but that’s life. I think you become a better coach when you figure out how to treat ALL your kids the same, whether they are fast/slow or talented/not-talented. You could be making a HUGE difference in that child’s life. I just wish more coaches believed that way……..because you know………my way is the best!! HA!
Have a good one!
Can’t Even Blame this one on Sports!
Just when you think you have seen it all……….it happens. Catches you off guard. Reminds you that there are some really irresponsible, selfish people out there. We see it way too often in youth sports. BUT….I can’t even blame this one on youth sports.
There’s a new youth football league in town (in Fort Bend County, TX – Sugar Land, Missouri City, etc) called Fort Bend Gridiron Football. What a wonderful place for boys to learn to love and play football. The league is affiliated with USA Football and the NFL, so it’s starting out with a very strong foundation. This is a zoned league meaning that the kids will play on a team with kids that live around them and that are zoned to the same high school they are to attend. The teams are named after the high school that they kids are zone too, thus building community spirit and support. It’s been great so far. The coaches are all concerned with fundamentals and making sure the kids love football. And then there’s winning……you would have called me out on it if I hadn’t mentioned it. We ALWAYS want to win. All the right pieces are there. The coaches seem strong, the board is AWESOME and organized, the fields are in good shape, and the kids are excited. That being said, still can’t blame this awful display on football. Those of you that know me, I haven’t even seen anything like this in baseball – ha!
To set the stage, it’s hot……it’s later in the day and we were all tired, hot, and sticky. The boys were hot and we were steady pouring water on them..in them…trying to keep them hydrated. This young man on the field completes this AWESOME run of maybe 30 yards (that’s BIG in youth football) and puts his arm out to break his fall, jumps up and screams in pain. Next words out of his mouth are “my mom is going to kill me.” WHAT? Did I hear that right? His arm is killing him and he’s worried about his mom? OK – I’m thinking either this kid is a REALLY good kid and he REALLY loves his mommy OR something weird is going on.
The “lucky” EMT, who earned his keep on Saturday bless his young heart, running from sideline to sideline handing players with everything from helmets to the ribs, heat exhaustion, and twisted ankles/arms/fingers, joined us on the sidelines with our newest injury. I’m scrambling to get an ice bag prepped, and the poor kid is writhing in pain, and crying about how we “can’t tell his mom.” Huh? She’s probably in the stands watching the whole thing, I’m thinking. One of the coaches has been standing with us and I was thinking – what a coach. Back to the field, his attention was on the injured player. Cool! With 4 plays left before half-time, this guy is standing here keeping an eye on his player. As our Marine, combat-trained paramedic (might I add YOUNG) is tending to this fragile little boy he informs the player that he is going to have to go to the hospital to have his upper arm/shoulder x-rayed. The screaming begins again. All the player heard was “broken” and the coach says “you shouldn’t have said that.” WHAT? You goof-ball, do you see what kind of pain this kid is in? It’s not the crying of a kid that just got his butt kicked on the field and doesn’t want to go back in. He’s in pain. THEN the coach says something and we all realize that the player is his son. Enter Mom………I DON’T HAVE TIME TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL. Little sister has to been somewhere at 2:30….she’s shares in a VERY loud, nasty tone. And the loud comment is coming from me…..I’m VERY loud. The crying escalates from the boy.
She hears us discussing Methodist Hospital in Sugar Land, and starts talking smack about how many bad things she’s heard. OK – it’s an ER. How many people have shared with you that they had a GREAT time at an ER? Huh? As this drama continues to unfold, a conversation begins between myself, the EMT, and this coach about broken arms and Methodist Hospital – Sugar Land, league sponsor as my son had emergency surgery (broken arm, immediate surgery, complete with pins) at Methodist-Sugar Land on a Friday night, during football season in Texas. Could have been a rougher than necesssary night for us in these parts – and we had GREAT nurses, doctors, service. I’m trying to lighten the mood with the mom because she’s REALLY making me angry shouting that she doesn’t HAVE TIME to take her kid to the hospital….WHAT? The kid is sitting right there listening and sobbing how sorry he is, and she’s unleashing her “I told you so’s”, and “if it’s broken, he’ll never play again.” She needed to be shut down. Seriously, if I had said something like that…………….
The dad eventually took him to the Methodist per our instructions and was treated wonderfully. I wanted to ask if he took his wife for some meds…but again I kept my mouth shut (which is extremely unusual for me). There were a few more comments made by the kid that made this drama SO MUCH WORSE, but I’m worried for him because the situation between mom and dad is obviously not a good on so I won’t share that……this is bad enough.
What kind of person tells a kid that they DON’T HAVE TIME to take a kid to hospital because of ballet lesson or birthday party……don’t really remember because I was so shocked. Come on…the kid was in pain show some compassion lady. I hope she reads this. I don’t care how much you don’t like your spouse, or how much you don’t like football……..your kid needs his mommy. Selfish….selfish…….selfish. IRRESPONSIBLE.
People should have take a test or pass a class before they are allowed to have kids. My husband says we are all screwed up, it’s just “how” we are screwed up and “how bad” that sets us apart. That’s really the truth. Kids are perfect when they are born. We screw them up as parents. Give your kids a hug. YES, they frustrate us and make us mad, but I’ve yet to meet one that is capable of intentionally breaking their own arm. Right? They are kids. They should not have to bear our burdens. Ever. They’re just not equipped………….
WOW – what a Saturday. Great up until the drama started…….and I HATE HATE HATE drama. Oh…..on a lighter note, this combat trained paramedic’s comment, “I’m not trained for this……..” Parents. UGH!
Workin’ kind of weekend!
It’s was one of those weekends where everything seemed to be a bit tied to work. My youngest played in “Friday Night Under the Lights.” Our community, New Territory, looks forward to these wonderful spring-ish Friday nights for good old-fashioned hot dogs, hamburgers and baseball. YOUTH baseball that is. Grant’s game was at 6:00pm – the sun is still out. I guess he was a bit let down that he didn’t get to play in the dark. The league provides hot dogs and burgers and the teams that play (normally 2 games) bring the desserts and chips. It’s a blast – everyone just hangs out, chats with neighbors, and the players run rampant after they’re games.
The WORK side of 
Friday night: Summer League Swim Team…We are getting cranked up for practices to start on May 3rd and meets June 7th. As a coach for one of the 2 neighborhood teams AND the website manager/designer/hand-holder for the team’s website (sponsored by Bizopia, Houston SEO Website Design company – which I of course work for), I am evidently fair game for a whole slew of questions regardless of the fact that my child is playing on the field – even at bat. Most of the comments/questions I got Friday night were about the new team suits – a solid black team suit with green trim – and the cutest fish-logo. Can you imagine sitting in a room with 10-18 women trying to get everyone to agree on a suit that will make all 200+ swimmers happy…..? SpeedoUSA forced our hand in forcing us to choose a new suit this year by discontinuing their “2 year suit” program
. These new suits look great – the fish is recognizable to other teams – and has been for quite some time. We’ve done a very good job of “branding” our logo in the community. It’s on EVERYTHING. Every kid I’ve talked to LOVES them, but the parents think they are boring. Oh well.
I worked with a local company, Echo Apparel Solutions, over off the Beltway 8 & Gessner. They were great to work with and do business in Houston, Sugar Land, Katy and surrounding areas. This fish is some kind of elasti-rubber like iron-on thing. I don’t know the specifics, all I know is that we were able to very cost-effectively customize our apparel for the team. This company does all kinds of things: custom embroidery, screen-printing, sublimation as well as providing great choices in corporate apparel items to customize. Team and League uniforms galore. They also did these cool, yellow safety-vests for my church’s volunteers to wear in the parking lots so new members can identify them. Pretty cool. They’ve also personalized duffel bags, sweatsuits (team-wear) as well as fan-wear for National Fusion Soccer, one of the local club soccer clubs. If you need anything for your company, your team, your church…….give Echo Apparel a click or call.
Yesterday, we had our parent meeting for the Tarpons. All those new parents sitting out there in the audience, soaking up every word we said. RELAX………it made me feel old. This is a FUN thing. Yes, it’s hotter than you know what, but the kids that participate – LOVE IT! Keeps the kids off the computers and games and couch for at least an hour every day. What a deal…$95 dollars for one swimmer for the summer. Starts in May, ends in mid-July. Every day……experienced coaches, good technical teachers, fun in the sun, and a little friendly competition. In my book, summer swim team is the best deal around money wise. We are VERY lucky to have such wonderful sponsors – one of which I need to start designing their site.
My youngest and I put in a garden on Sunday. That’s WORK! He wants to attract butterflies and bees, and to grow “something”. He’s such an outside kid. Summer swimming is good for him because it gives him something to do every day – gives us something to form a “schedule” around. I think I’m going to let him “work” on a website “like Mommy does.” We have a family site that I don’t do anything with because I’m always working on someone elses’ site. He’s old enough to “write” a little blog on a page on our family site. He already has a Facebook page – social media marketing at 8 years old. HA! The grandparents will love it…..plus it will help him with his typing skills which the schools ASSUME these kids can all type. Push buttons, yes. Type, no. Who knows, maybe he’ll follow in our footsteps and work at Bizopia one day and design websites for a living. Hmmmm……….maybe not. Don’t think he can sit still that long. We have time……..
Back to work. Working on a mobile auto glass repair site for Affordable Auto Glass of Houston. Great company – easy to work with. Next in line……..a limousine company, then a media transfer company in Sugar Land. Lots to do……..more to come. Bring on the week…………
Trains, TVs, Pianos and Swimming
Woke up this morning to news reports of a train derailment in Santa Fe, Texas. That really not that far from here. We live pretty close to some tracks and I always think – how fast would officials move through an HUGE subdivision like mine telling neighbors to “shelter in place”. We don’t have train accidents that much. AND we live close to Nalco Industries. Seems there are always train cars being loaded and unloaded. Through my job, I’m aware that train accidents (or rail accidents) fall under a very interesting law called FELA. FELA stands for Federal Employers Liability. The way I understand it is that there are very specific laws regarding what employers must do to keep their workers safe. WOW – this is VERY different than a workmans’ compensation claim. It is up to the injured worker to prove that the employer/rail owner failed to provide an unsafe workplace. Think about this – FELA covers injuries on the tracks, on the trains themselves, as well as injuries in the railyard. That’s a ton of different places injuries/accidents could happen. 20 cars derailed in this accident this morning……..that would have tied up traffic on Hwy 90 for DAYS. Issues would need to be handled by an experienced lawyer – luckily we’ve developed a wonderful working relationship with the attorneys at Burwell Nebout Trial Lawyers – they handle FELA cases in Galveston, Texas City as well as Houston. See – your job pays off sometimes. If I need an attorney, I know who to call!
Our old tv, bless it’s heart, is on it’s last leg. Luckily I have a client that sells all the newest and prettiest LCD televisions. The pictures are INCREDIBLE. J&K Electronics make buying a tv in Houston, easy. Especially LCD tvs. NOW, for my other half and I to decide on what size and what brand…hmm . That might take a while. In the mean time, I’m going to haul my pc that’s in need of a little repair and RnR. The pros at J&K also offer pc repair services. So I guess we’ll take the laptop for repair and look at some tv’s while we are there. Add one for this weekend’s list.
Pianos……….where do I start? We have a VERY old, one octave short, upright piano from my grandparents. My mom learned on it, I learned on it, and my kiddos have banged around on it. Literally. My youngest, at about 3, took a plastic bat to the keys. Chipped off the tips of the keys. Nice huh? My husband HATES the piano – not the piano instrument – just this piano in particular. It looks old. My daughter cries every time I suggest getting rid of it. I’ve checked with Fort Bend Music Center, my piano moving and sales experts and friends, and it’s not worth fixing it. Heartbreaking! But WOW – have you looked at new pianos lately. Fort Bend Music Center has some VERY cool upright as well as baby grand pianos for sale. Guess I’ll have to pay them for their piano moving services – maybe I can donate the piano. Suggestions? Add it to the list……
And swimming………MAJOR champs meet this weekend in the Woodlands. BEAUTIFUL facility – nice for spectators, BAD for parents with TWO kids. I’ll have to sit in the middle. Both big kids should do well. High School season is over for Chase, and Alexandra is due a VERY good swim or two. Watching some swimming and catching up with a friend that I never get to see anymore due to our kids’ schedules. Friday – Sunday at the Woodlands. Add it to the list……..
SEO and Swim Coaching – Same Strategy?
I’ve written before about SEO being a “word game” to me and got quite a few questions from friends and followers. SEO or SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is defined in Wiki-land as the process of improving volume and/or quality of traffic to a website. Now, if you’ve been following this blog, you know that I coach competitive swimming in my “spare” time. Let’s just say coaching doesn’t pay the bills. SEO does 
I’ve decided to try to explain SEO via my coaching techniques. As a swim coach, I have come across all types of swimmers: those who can listen and pick things up immediately, those who have to try it a few times THEN they get what I want, and those who I have to explain and explain and explain it to them before they get it. That’s where the SEO comes in. For this post, we’ll call it swimmer engine optimization – ha!
If I were to say the exact same thing to every swimmer every time (assuming people use the EXACT same keyword for a topic), some kids would get the message and some wouldn’t. If I change up the words or verbiage (keyword application) that I am using – a higher percentage of swimmers would get the message (higher percentage of traffic to website) I am trying to deliver. In theory……..
My words to the swimmers are just like keywords in text to a website – they have to be varied. Kids don’t process words in exactly the same way – just like people don’t use exactly the same search words for a particular topic. For example: for freestyle (American Crawl to you non-swimmers) your hand entry should be immediately outside of the center line of the body. To our senior swimmers, they would get that statement. To my babies, they would just stare at me like zombies if I used that particular string of words. This is NO DIFFERENT than if you were searching for a company to design a website. What words would you use? Website Design? Site design? Website Development? Web Development? Web page design? I could do this for days – but I think you get the picture.
For my beginner swimmers, I describe hand placement in the water as a spoon. “Let’s put our spoon (while showing them an outstretched hand and arm) in the bowl and pull the scoop of ice cream through the bowl.” Now, if I say THAT to the seniors, we’d spend the next few minutes waiting for the laughter to die down so no one would drown.
People use different strategies to search for things on the internet, THUS the need for multiple keywords explaining exactly the same topic to boost traffic to your website. Just like I have to come up with quite a few ways to describe hand placement – which by the way is INCREDIBLY important in fast swimming. No time to waster putting your hand in wrong……..no time to waste in not having the correct keywords on your website.
For those swimmers – yes I’ve provided ice cream and a scoop for the visuals. For you senior swimmers that read this……..NO WAY am I bringing ice cream to practice!!!! Austin High School!
Pants on the Ground
TOO FUNNY. Did you watch American Idol tonight? The 62 year old dude that came on at the end of American Idol tonight was a riot. He sang a song called “Pants on the Ground”….talking about how kids should pull their pants up. “With your hat to the side….” I was laughing SO FREAKIN’ hard. Mary J Blige was laughing so hard she was crying! Immediately we grabbed our phones and twittered………ha! At least SOMEONE other than ME thinks the pants hanging half way down someone’s butt is NOT attractive. We’ll see this guy again, trust me! Check him out on youtube.
You know American Idol is constantly trying to find the next “IT” factor. I’m not sure this guy is the next “it”, but he sure was cute! It was good to laugh that hard at the end of a long, hard day. I drove in circles with carpools or lack there of, and worked on a penguin project with the youngest.
I ended the work day today with a GREAT meeting with Doctors Clinic Houston. This is a well run, well staffed organization. We had sandwiches (that were AWESOME btw from Murphy’s Deli) and moved straight into our website design meeting. Dr. T is great – he’s definitely the marketing mind behind this. As a Houston Chiropractor, I wouldn’t hesitate to visit one of his medical clinics especially to see him. Fun crowd – believe me, in today’s world of “medicine” and “insurance” – who wouldn’t want to go to a “fun” clinic?
I was informed on Medical Facials and Medical Spa Treatments in Houston. I had NO IDEA medical clinics did this kind of thing in Houston. They offer all types of services from Family Medicine for Houston to Employment physicals.
I also learned about DOT drug screens. Did you know that truck drivers have to submit REGULAR drug screens to the DOT (department of transportation). These screens have to be conducted at a facility “registered” with the state. Who knew?
Swimming…….in the rain again!
I had the complete pleasure of accompanying the Fort Bend-Austin High School swim team to the TISCA meet in San Antonio this past weekend. 2 days of double session swimming………..I was REALLY impressed with the actions and attitudes of most of AHS’s swim team. Good coaching? Good parenting? Or just good kids?
I think swimming breeds pretty adaptable kiddos who are used to schedules that are unimaginable to most. Neighbors walk by and ask my kids (while they are waiting for carpool) “where are you going?” The answer is almost always the same. “Waiting for swim team carpool.”
At TISCA, these kids were working on relatively pool sleeping conditions (it was a great hotel – the issue for most was the upperclassman vs freshman thing….Dad would say – it’s good training for them), different eating times – I know that affects my kids, and a different competitive arena that was new for most.
Most of these kids traveled without their parents and handled themselves pretty darn good. They dealt with bad times, personality differences between VERY tired kids, and disqualifications that were heart breaking.
I was just impressed, so I thought I would mention it! OH – it’s raining again………………..
Swimming in the Rain – Again!
This weekend, we had the complete pleasure of visiting the big booming metropolis of Manvel, Texas. Home of the very beautiful Manvel High School (great short course nat) and Twin Lakes…….2 scuba lesson lakes/tanks in the middle of an RV park. Rice University hosts an “open water swim” for USA swimmers and USMS (United States Master Swimmers) at this “Twin Lakes.” It is very well organized, well run, stays on schedule – however …. IT RAINS. At least this year it wasn’t cold.
These kids are real troopers – swimming in the rain and wind, in a lake when the are used to protected swimming pools with lane ropes controlling the waves. I’m so proud of my swimmers (my own kids as well as other FCST swimmers) when they complete this race. They offered an 800yd swim, 1 mile, and 2 mile swims. We competed in the 1 mile this year. My daughter’s first OW swim. I believe you must be 13 in order to attempt the 2 mile, open water swim. Next year for us.
The rain wasn’t bad – just annoying – made taking pictures difficult; however people were parking like ding dongs and getting stuck right and left. When did it become “common-sensy” to park a small, 2-4 door car, full of asleep swimmers in an already muddy field standing in water? Hmmm? What do you think would make someone think “this might not be a good idea?” The 12-14 year old boys standing around, taking bets on who is going to get stuck and watching people park cars – IN THE MUD ?
People are always entertaining…………way to go FCST! And thanks Rice U for a great meet.
Moms………The Ultimate Taxi Cab Drivers
I’d pit just about any of my friends against a New York City Taxi Driver any day of the week. Tax drivers pick up customers by happenstance, on a street corner somewhere. Moms have to pick kids up on a schedule while negotiating afternoon traffic of all types – the unpredictable types of traffic. Moms have detailed route guides – with the most important question on their mind – what order do I pick the kids up in that will minimize the time wasted in the car. No “taking the long way” for us to “run the meter up.”
A lot of my friends are moms (or dads) of competitive swimmers who have incredibly rigorous schedules. My oldest swims 9 times a week for two different teams, middle child swims 6 times a week and plays volleyball on a team, and my youngest swims up to 3 days a week and plays football 4 times a week. That’s just my family……trying to coordinate a carpool schedule with 4-5 other families, all with multiple children in the same age ranges as mine. It really takes a “domestic engineer” to figure it all out.
These moms come from all walks of life. There’s the retired accountant mom (2 kids), the custom dvd authoring and editing mom (3 kids), the pharmacist mom(3 kids), the seventh grade teacher mom (2 kids), the software designer dad (5 kids), and me…the website design and seo mom (3 kids). Can you only imagine the planning, scheduling, committing, and trust that goes into our swimming lives? Ha! It’s totally wild.
All of our kids get out at different hours in the afternoon, all convening on the pool within 45 minutes of each other….20-25 minutes away from our neighborhood in Houston traffic. And very proudly, we are very rarely ever late. WAY TO GO GALS! (and our token dad who does a MARVELOUS job of hanging in there!)
Back to the contest between the carpool moms and the NY taxi driver. Here’s the test:
- Pick up 5 hungry swimmers (think Michael Phelps – and these kids are younger) immediately upon school dismissal – and they are cranky
- Deliver them at the pool by the scheduled practice time for drylands
- Negotiate the roads so that the organic chocolate milk in a box with folding straw does not spill in new car (good pre-practice protein & carb intake)
- Remind each swimmer upon pick up – do you have your wet bag & dry bag and appropriate forms for the fundraiser? Deal with it when they don’t.
- Handle the personality differences that could arise at any time because someone got kicked YESTERDAY at practice.
- Handle the business call for dvd editing and duplicating from the local football team or the seo keyword request from the office while not obviously sssshhh-ing the tweens and teens car-riders.
- NOT have an accident
- Prep the car for the pickup (picking up the milk boxes, ziploc bags of half-eaten cheesy pretzels)
- Pick up after practice at scheduled time, while remembering that they don’t get OUT of the pool on time
- Drop 1-2 at church or the school for study groups
- Deliver sleepy, hungry tween/teens home – before 8:00pm
- Prep car for the 5:00am practice in the morning & carpool tomorrow, bring in the trash can, and feed the dog, clean the kitchen (oh – did I mention serve dinner?)
All without the aid of ANYONE else – did I mention – AND NOT GET PAID? WHO do you think would win?
Swimming – On doing less…..
GREAT article by John Leonard…always try your hardest kids!
On Doing Less…a story
by John Leonard, Executive Director of ASCA
Once upon a time, in a swimming pool in the far north, near the arctic circle in upstate New York, I learned a lesson. There was a lane we called “the national team”. Some of these 8 or 9 bodies had national cuts and others just aspired to have the national cuts, and were close. They all thought they were special. They came early, they stayed later, they were “the National Team”.
They weren’t the only ones I had in the pool during this time, and I moved from group to group, so periodically, I’d pass them by and say something like “Nice Job. You guys are working hard, keep it up, Good Work”. They improved when they went to swim meets and swam faster and faster.
One day as I walked past, I heard Lynn Scully say to Amy Richards, “hey, cut me some slack here, slow down, I can’t go that hard right now.” (for purposes of full disclosure, Lynn is a male, Amy a female)
Amy looked at him in a quizzical way, and went hard again. I ignored it and walked away.
The next day, I walked past, said “good job, Good work, makin’progress”. Lynn and two other male swimmers didn’t look me in the eye. Later in that practice, I heard Pete say, “Amy, I’m dyin’ here, give me a break hey?” and heard Lynn chime in, “Yeah, no need to go this hard”. And a third male say “Crap Amy, you’re makin’ us all work too hard to keep up with you!”.
Amy slapped her hands on the water with frustration, gave up, stepped aside and moved to the middle of the lane to let Pete lead.
Our nationals Sucked.
I learned from this that we can be two kinds of people….the kind that encourages everyone around us to work hard and achieve more, or we can be the kind that says “we don’t have to work that hard to achieve more”. We each of us have both people within us. And everyone who has ever coached or ever swum or ever competed knows this is the truth.
If just one person backs off, it lets the next weakest person do likewise. Its a disease, and it spreads fast.
After that lesson, I always paid attention to the “lane talk” in workouts. And I’d talk to my teams about how to encourage each other to be achievers and how no one person in the group can achieve more than the group aspires to achieve. The group has got to get it right, and none can have the attitude that says “we don’t have to work that hard”.
And if they didn’t want to be their personal best selves, they didn’t want to train with me. They could train somewhere else and float through with some other coach. Life, and this sport, does not reward those who “float through”…it rewards those that enjoy the work for its own sake.
I would say for awhile that I was “amazed” at how much satisfaction the swimmers took from encouraging each other to do more than they thought was possible.
Now, I look back and know it was not amazing at all. It was normal. Because, you see, we can all chose to be the person who says “lets do less” or the person who says “lets swim faster”. And once the team decides to only accept the positive input, there is nothing amazing about it. Its normal.
Since 1974, that experience left an indelible mark on me. It marked me with the knowledge that just one person who thinks they can “do less” can ruin a team, or a group, or an office, because we all have the capacity to sink, or to rise to leadership.
Think about that when your team is swimming up and down that lane.
Swimming in the Rain
A lot of my friends ask me if the kids swim in the rain. WELL-YES they do! Aren’t they getting wet anyway? Red Cross suggests that you don’t train/swim if it’s rain hard enough to mess the top of the water up enough so keep you from seeing the bottom of the pool. Well, as FCST’s kids will tell you, we swim in the rain regardless.
My babies (U8 swimmers) swam in the snow last year. I was so proud of them. You know in Sugar Land, Texas…it can snow one day and we can literally be in shorts the next day. It’s wild. As a swim coach – it’s a complete headache. New parents are worried about their kiddos swimming in the rain – again – aren’t they going to get cold anyway?
With all the different cultures and family structures around here, I have to come up with so many different ways to say things. That’s what I find challenging about my SEO (search engine optimization) job…..it’s all a game of semantics. More on this tomorrow.
Rain, Rain……..take a break!
We REALLY need the rain – HOWEVER, it either needs to RAIN & Lightning or stop between 3:00pm and 8:00pm. With competitive swimmers – they swim in the rain……unless it’s raining TOO HARD. That normally happens AFTER I’ve left for carpool. Go figure. They swim in the rain, snow, and “other”……..just not lightning. With these crazy pop ups we’ve had lately – rains here, but not there. We drive carpool anyway and then lurk around the pool “just in case.” Also, I hate driving carpool on days when it rains. The kids are slow and so is traffic.
As I’m a work, writing about these other businesses, some can be affected by rain, and some aren’t. The Law Offices of Brian Jensen CAN be affected because of auto accidents. Houston auto accidents are regular occurrences on rainy, stormy days. Mr. Jensen handles different types of personal injury cases that need an attorney for whatever the reason. As I’m sitting here right off Gessner and Beltway 8 South, I can HEAR the screaching tires. No sirens yet, so that’s good. Just remember Houston auto accident lawyer – Brian Jensen. Nice guy.
Back to real work, not fun work………..watching the weather is NOT going to help me, because it will change in about 2 minutes anyway!
