02/13/2025
In twenty years, it won't matter if they were the fastest rider in their class or if they rode for a factory team. It wont matter what place they finished or if they had the biggest trophy collection.
It won't matter if they recieved a rider spotlight in pull magazine or ever won NAG 1.
It won't matter if they made every main, maxed their points, and took home all the possible jackets one could win in a season.
Don't get me wrong, I'm my kids' biggest fan.
I LOVE watching them in all of their activities. I'm proud and honored to get to do so. And yes, we're a family who likes to win (and I think that's okay!)
But sometimes, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that so much of this BMX-parent season is temporary. We get caught up in the competitiveness of wanting our kid to be the best, when really it's kind of insignificant in the bigger picture of their lives.
In twenty years, the things that WILL matter are the other skills our kids are learning during their time the sport.
The skills they'll only learn if we put our parent egos aside and have fewer conversations about points and more conversations about things likeβ
Discipline.
Hard work.
Accountability.
Self resilience.
Mental fortitude.
Being a good sport even when things don't go their way.
Right now, BMX is such a big part of our world.
From the outside it seems like our kids are working on things like proper technique and fundamentals of the sport and that's part of it, sure.
But really, this is an even bigger chance for them to learn lessons about life.
And when they've hung up their helmet for the very last time, I hope to walk into the next season of life knowing we haven't just raised accomplished athletes, we've raised incredible humans.
I copied this from a parenting page I follow and reworded it to fit BMX. It easy to lose sight of why we started this sport and whats really going on. This is just a friendly reminder to prioritize maxing out the fun over maxing out points, collecting memories over collecting trophies, winning the day instead of winning the race. Prioritize these things first and the race wins, points, and trophies will come in time.
I began racing in 1989. The only thing that I have carried with me all these years were the memories made and lessons I've learned. I've always enjoyed coaching and sharing knowledge with the riders. This one is for the parents. I will be first to admit, I had to learn this the hard way. There's more to BMX than the win, even if its all your kid wants. Its your job to teach them there is so much more to learn.
Credit to the page this was rewritten from Her View From Home