Gold Medal Hearts- The Carpool Lane with Special Guests D.A. and Dick Franklin
Missy Franklin is a household name in the swimming world. Missy shot to fame before the 2012 Olympics even started with a lead role in the viral “Call Me Maybe” video,(which to date has 16 million views). At 17 years old, she left the London games with 5 Olympic medals (4 of them Gold), and was just as excited to come home and swim in her high school state championship meet. It had me wondering how in the world does one raise an Olympic champion to be driven, yet so kind and humble? Missy’s parents,Dick and D.A. Franklin were generous enough to accept an invitation to join me on The Carpool Lane this week to answer this very question for me.
Dick and D.A. gave some amazing insight on how to encourage your child to take ownership of their goals and athletic journey. Here are a few of my favorite takeaways:
It is important for young athletes to try other sports and activities to avoid the “grass is greener” mentality later on in their career. For example Missy tried volleyball, gymnastics, violin, skiing, and more before deciding swimming was her passion.
When children experience many activities before specializing they avoid burnout. The same is true for swimming- when you try various distances and events, you become a well rounded swimmer.
Deciding not to do an activity is fine…..after the commitment is over. But for the duration of the activity, it’s important to be committed, go to practices and meets, and be dedicated to the team.
Children should set their own GOALS- they may be family goals, sports goals, school goals, but once your child has a goal in mind, have your child make a plan on HOW they are going to accomplish their goal.
Let your child take ownership of their sport. Missy’s parents would warm the car up, and even warm a swimming parka up in the dryer for her before morning practice. However, it was up to Missy to set an alarm and wake up for morning practice. If she didn’t wake up, her parents weren’t going to wake her up to go.
Watching your child struggle through tough times is hard and as parents you want to fix things for them. They found that during challenging times, the best thing they could do for Missy was to just BE THERE for her. The only fix is to sometimes just be there and let your child know that you love them.
Parents- it’s important to take care of yourself in order to be able to take care of your children.
Enjoy the ride. It goes fast. Talk to your children, find what they are passionate about and enable them to pursue their passions.
Dick and D.A. you two were an absolute pleasure to have on The Carpool Lane. I am so grateful that you were willing to share your wisdom and insight on how you raised such an inspirational young lady.
In case you missed Dick and D.A. today, you can watch the replay here!
