WEBVTT - How to raise an Olympian 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.640 I enrolled both Locke and Charlotte into Little Athletics Little 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:06.760 A's last year, now Lockie was in the under eights 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:10.600 and Charlotte was in the under sevens. While Charlotte literally 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:13.720 skipped every race, coming in dead last, but with a 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:18.000 big smile on her face, Little Lockie did really well. 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:20.959 He even made it into the Zone Champs and I 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:25.200 found myself daydreaming about jet setting around the world watching 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:29.400 him compete at World Championships, and may have even worked 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:31.800 out how old he'll be for the Brisbane Olympics in 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:32.639 twenty thirty two. 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:35.440 Yep, he'll be nineteen. Kind of perfect. 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:39.680 The only slight issue is whenever I try to get 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.360 him out to practice, he's just not that keen. I 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:46.280 even did my best Rocky style pep talk and he 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:47.760 basically told me. 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:48.840 To back off. 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:53.000 Mum, So I'm clearly not cut out for this parenting 0:00:53.159 --> 0:01:05.480 of an elite athlete thing. This is healthy her with 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:08.480 Amelia Phillips, What does it take. 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:09.720 To raise an Olympian? 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.360 Were they oozing with talent from the moment they could walk? 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:16.800 Or did Mum and Dad carefully shape and manage their 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:21.679 childhood setting them up for sporting success? Whilst we probably 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:24.280 know the answer will be somewhere in the middle, it 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:28.560 is an interesting question. Did the parents of elite athletes 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.480 raise their children any differently from say you or me. 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.440 Could we be sitting on a little gem of talent 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:38.240 if only we just nurture them the right way and 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.360 are willing to make the sacrifices and the tough decisions. 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:46.720 Could we too raise the next generation's Olympians. A man 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.040 that has had first hand experience with this is Tony 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:55.080 Leckay's proud dad to three time Olympian steeple chaser Jen 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:57.000 Leckays now Jen Gregson. 0:01:57.360 --> 0:01:59.880 Tony, thank you so much for joining me today. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:01.200 My pleasure. Amelia. 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.680 Now Jen has competed in not one, not two, but 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.720 three Olympic Games, most recently Tokyo where she made it 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.960 into the three thousand meter athletics steeple chase final. 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:14.440 Let's rewind Tony. 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:16.560 Tell me about what sort of a child she was 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:17.840 right from the get go. 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:21.800 Okay, that's going back, But I mean we raised the 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:24.839 kids on a farm on Tambourary Mountain. We had four 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.799 of them under five, and that was a deliberate choice. 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.560 They sort of had this image of my boys playing 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:32.799 together happily. And you know, we didn't care whether you 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.520 had boys or girls, but they're all together. So they 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.680 did start off competing at a very early age, like 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:42.680 competing for affection, competing for attention, Yeah, competing for. 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.120 The food on the table. So that's what it was like. 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.320 Now, boys girls, what's the what did you have? 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.000 Boys? Girls? And where is Jen in that dynamic? 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:53.320 She's number three with two older brothers and a younger brother. 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.040 Okay, three boys, one girl, number three. Oh yeah, that's 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:59.360 that's that is a very competitive fertile ground, isn't it. 0:02:59.560 --> 0:02:59.720 Yeah. 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.200 She would put up with anything from the boys except 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.959 getting into her room. She fought tooth and nail, never 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.080 let them in her room, and then she did her 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:08.680 best to beat them at everything that she could. 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:12.840 So she obviously had that competitive nature which definitely comes 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.040 from being in that larger family dynamic. 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:16.680 What about just talent? 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:20.240 Did she display talent from an early age or did 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:21.799 it kind of bubble up later on? 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:26.080 Well, I mean she she was very physically strong for 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:28.720 a little girl. Like I used to do chinn up 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:33.360 competitions with them and racing competitions and swimming competitions young 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:36.240 and bribe them and give them prizes, not with any 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:36.680 goal of. 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:38.600 Mine, just because it was fun, you know. Yeah, and 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:40.760 she sort of competed pretty well. 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.600 But she's only competing against her brothers, not some world beater. 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:46.320 So we didn't do that with any plan of mine. 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:49.720 It was just our lifestyle. We'd have fun, play games 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:50.400 and compete. 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:52.760 And did you send her to Little A's at a 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:53.360 young age? 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:54.560 Well, Donna usually. 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:56.520 Made decisions like that, and it was her decision to 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.200 send them to Little A's, So you can't just drop 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:00.720 the kids a little age to stay there. 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:03.880 Yeah, And my memories of Little A's was looking at 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:04.560 my poor kids. 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:08.000 They're all little kids for their age, coming last, seriously 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:11.640 last in every event, and getting bitten by mosquitoes a 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:13.040 lot down at Helensville. 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:16.920 Now, how old were they when you first sent them? 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:17.599 Can you remember? 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:20.480 I can't really remember it. I'm thinking grade two, three, 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:21.599 four and five. 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:24.160 Okay, So because you can literally send them as four 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:26.320 year old, so you weren't like, you know, pushing them 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.279 out of nappies onto the field like there were younger 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:29.880 kids there. 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:30.160 Yeah. 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:32.760 Yeah, but I mean like when Donna had four kids 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:34.800 to look after at that age, to give her a break, 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:37.160 I used to take the kids to the pool every morning. 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:39.080 I'm pretty sure it was from at least six months 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:40.880 of age, and I put them in a pig pen 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:42.640 at the pool and then take them into the pool. 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:47.279 So they were always outdoors and active. And the funny 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:49.840 thing about Little A's was they seriously they came last 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:52.320 and everything, but Donna drug up this trophy that they 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:54.080 got at the end of one season and it was 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:58.000 for the lacr's family cross country. Apparently they all showed 0:04:58.040 --> 0:04:59.919 some promise at cross country. 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:06.400 Interesting, and so let's talk about you and your wife, Donna. 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.800 And I have to say I messaged Donna because I 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:11.560 was thinking I was wanting to interview the mum of 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:15.039 an olympian. But then Donna actually palmed off to you 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:18.680 and said, no, it's Tony that had the most impact. 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:20.680 So it's interesting you saying a moment ago, No, it 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:22.440 was Donna that made those decisions. 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:25.040 But talk to me about the two of you. 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:28.160 Were you both sporty and competitive by nature. 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:29.600 Like amateur sportsman. 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:32.440 I mean I did play professional rugby league and Donna 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:34.560 was a ballerine. I don't know how far she got 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.160 with that, but what we did a lot of Tambury 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:39.760 Mountain was small place. I was in the pharmacy there 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:41.719 and was very social. We had a lot of friends 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:45.240 our age, and we did triathlons, we played touch football, 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:48.359 and we always took the kids with her, So the 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.640 kids grew up on a sidelines at the touch football 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:54.080 field or being held by their grandma at a triathlon, 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:56.920 so they saw that sort of activity. So it's not 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:01.320 like we were necessarily super sporty or in gold medals 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.240 or anything, but we were always doing something. I remember 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:06.800 one time, Don and we're just doing intervals on the 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.040 oval and we turned around and here was Elliot and 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:11.920 Jenevie jogging behind us. 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:14.680 Yas did that because they saw us doing it. 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:17.520 Yeah, we gave an example, but we certainly don't have 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:21.760 some fabulous genes to pass on to get a great athlete. 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:25.640 At the end of Little A's last season, this kid won. 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.679 He would have been about twelve, and he won, broke 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.239 all these records, and when he went up to get 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:34.000 the trophy, his dad came with him, and his dad 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:37.560 was like six foot eight, this massive muscle guy, and 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:41.560 the whole audience actually laughed out loud because we were 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.640 literally like, okay, now we see the jeans. Now we 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:48.240 see where this this child has such a competitive advantage. 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:52.479 What about your parenting style? Looking back now, do you 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:56.599 notice anything that differed from your parenting style to other parents? 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:59.640 And I'm imagining you know this image of you out 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.839 in the thunderstorms chasing your kids around the track while 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:05.200 it's raining, while everyone else has gone home. 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:06.800 Well, there was nothing like that. 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:10.720 I mean, I think we had some natural advantages. 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:11.040 Growing up on the farm. 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:12.920 We were on one hundred and twenty acres and was 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:16.040 surrounded by rainforests and a view to the coast, so 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:19.200 they got a perfectly healthy environment, you know, and that 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:21.760 has some effect on their lungs developing. But I mean 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:25.360 I being in pharmacy, I supplemented them early on. Yeah, 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.080 juice stuff for them, juice, carrots and thing. We ate 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:32.040 fruit every morning. The juice has ended when his younger 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:35.800 brother vomited bet rey juice all over the carpet, So 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:38.840 we dropped that part of the program after a while. 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:40.600 That's the end of it. 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:44.240 We'll stick to pills, thank you very much, vitamin pills. 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:47.760 What about an attitude of excellence? Would you say you 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.680 have this attitude of excellence, whether it be schoolwork, sporting 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:53.400 or are you more of a child relaxed family. 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:55.920 No, I mean I wanted to give the kids everything 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:57.880 my parents couldn't give me. But my parents gave me 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:00.000 everything they could give me, and I was able to 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.800 give more to my kids because of my financial situation. 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.280 But yeah, we tried to expose the kids to everything, 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:08.840 and not just sport. It was travel, you know, food, wine, 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:12.320 just give them as broad an experience as they could, 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:14.680 you know, which was worth something to them. If you 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.840 want to talk about excellence. Donna absolutely drove the kids 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:20.320 to do the piano. They couldn't do anything else until 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:21.640 they've done their piano practice. 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:22.760 I love that. 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:23.960 So I think that was a. 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:26.600 Discipline that they got, and to this day they hated it. 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:28.520 At the time. They all say they're going to make 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:29.480 their kids do piano. 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.520 Yeah, I love that, and you hear that quite a lot. 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:34.560 And even you know, as a grown up now some 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.600 of the things my parents made me do, like making 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.120 my bed every day, and now you know, it just happens, 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.120 and at the time I hated it. But it's just, 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.560 you know, it's that repetition that becomes a habit, and 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:45.240 it's effortless. 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.520 Now, yeah, well, I think some of the things, like 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.360 even we thought we'd take the French approach with wine 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:52.120 and that would expose them to them and teach them 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.960 what a fine wine tastes like, so that we demystify 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.800 wine and they would never be in strength. I can't 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:01.880 say that worked all that well with the boys. But 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:04.600 you know, we played tennis. None of them played tennis. 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:07.320 We used to read books endlessly. I think all of 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:08.079 our reads a little. 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:14.240 Yeah, something stick something well, running has obviously stuck. 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:19.960 Tell me about when jen stopped coming last, and tell 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:23.680 me about the progression from last to the Olympics. 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.360 Well, when we came we moved down from Tambury, went 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.400 to a school. We went there because they had a 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:31.400 great computer program, nothing to do with sport. I can 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:33.280 remember being at work and then it's one of the 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:36.600 mothers of quite a sporty girl ranged me at work 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.000 to tell me that Genevieve had won the cross country. 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:42.120 I said, okay, and but that was a. 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:44.760 Big deal, like there were some very good athletes there 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.840 that she'd be I think it was great far and 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.840 so well, that's good. And then Donna took her to 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:56.160 districts and she came fifth, snuck in and just got 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:58.600 in a fit that makes you go onto regionals. Then 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.599 she went to regional and some girl fell down in 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:03.720 a puddle before the thing, and jenemy snuck in again 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:08.000 at fifth. So went to States and then we expected 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:10.559 her to be absolutely demolished by the good athletes up there, 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:15.720 and she came I think eighth, Wow, which just shocked everybody. 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:17.600 You know, we were expecting somewhere in the twenties. 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:19.560 Yeah, and we said, oh, maybe we better give this 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:23.880 girl some support, and so, you know, then we did 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.440 sort of focus a little more on her running. 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:29.560 Yeah okay, And that was around grade five. Yeah okay. 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.720 And then and so did you then, you know, stick 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:34.959 at Little A's or rejoin her, or you then got 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:37.240 her a coach or joined an athletics team. 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:40.320 Well, we were we're in at Daisy Hill now by 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.000 John Paul College. So we left Little A's and they 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.080 had a run club, which again was Donna's ideas she 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.240 made them all go to run club. I can't remember 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:49.040 that was before after she won the cross country. I'm 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:53.320 pretty sure it was after. Then the following year I 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:55.480 was running with her around the around the block. I 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:58.800 think was the training that she got and I love that. 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:00.920 Ye I'm sure I need to lose track of it. 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:04.280 But she went to Nationals and she was just training 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:07.520 with the run club and she got second, which was, 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.200 you know, amazing. I think the following year we got 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.680 her a coach, which was grade six. He coached her 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:16.920 and im Donna once again got all of us to 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:18.679 go down and train with Jennevie, so she always had 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:20.920 company and you know, somebody else to share the pain. 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:23.679 And then that year she won Nationals. 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:24.240 So wow. 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.199 You know, then we knew that, you know, she had 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:26.679 some talent. 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:47.719 Tell me, as a parent, were there tough decisions that 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:49.680 you needed to make? And I want to give a 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:54.120 brief example here during the Tokyo Olympics, I was listening 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.720 to an interview with one of the gymnasts and they 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.679 had to have three knee reconstructions by the age of 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.920 twenty one. Now I was thinking, imagine having a fifteen 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:06.679 year old and being told that they need any reconstruction 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:08.880 and then you know, having to make that decision do 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:12.160 I allow them to keep, you know, competing and potentially 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.400 break their body down. Tell me about any tough decisions 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:17.760 that you had to make well. 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:21.079 There weren't many in terms of with the kids. The 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:23.199 kids were all that problem growing up. You know, they 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:27.640 did everything they should. Genevieve and three of her teammates 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:30.679 from school got selected in the Australian cross country and 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:34.520 that competed in Italy and just leading into that and 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:37.720 leading into Nationals where she came fourth or fifth. 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:39.240 How old would she have been here? 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:42.280 This was great. I can't think it's eight nine or ten. 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:45.359 It was around that area, all right. Okay, she was complaining. 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:46.640 Of a pain in the back and we treated it 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:48.800 in all sorts of ways, and we're just getting worse 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:49.120 and worse. 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.040 And then after Nationals. 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.760 We finally got a proper study done and she had 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:58.319 fractured her one of the next ones vertebrae, one of 0:12:58.320 --> 0:12:58.960 the little spurs. 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:00.400 So she'd been in a lot of pats for a 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.439 long time. You know. We looked after that. 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:05.280 With just wrest and pool running and just kept her 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:08.120 from impact until she started running professionally. 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:10.840 That was the only bad injury that she had. 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:12.240 What about mental health? 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:14.600 You know, we're here in the media all the time. 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:18.000 We've got Ash Barty that took a big break from 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:22.560 tennis because of the mental load. Did you observe any 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:26.240 mental health challenges competing at such a high level at 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:26.880 a young age. 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:29.120 No, I'd have to say the exact opposite. I mean, 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:34.600 Jenlemen didn't just run. She played touch football, She did triathlon, soccer, hockey, gymnastics. 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:37.120 Often she would play touch football in the morning on 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:38.640 the Gold Coast and then I take it to Brisbane 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:40.600 to run a cross country. 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:41.360 You know, at Nunda. 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:45.240 So I can remember she was playing in the final 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:47.840 of the Interstate touch football and there was a drop off, 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:49.960 which is a very tense moment. It's like the shootout 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:52.959 in the soccer and all the friends were vomiting, and 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:56.240 Jenemy said, I love shootouts. It's just fun, you know. 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:58.360 I love so not shoot that's a drop offs they 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:00.960 call it. She was just never by nerves. 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.920 Why do you think that is what dish sounds like. 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:07.560 She's mentally very resilient. Why do you think that is. 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:11.120 I think it's just from we've always kept it fun like. 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.360 She never got burnt out. She loved what she was doing. 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:17.160 She loved pleasing her coach, she loves winning. Thankfully, she 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:20.400 was lucky to win early on, so she was able 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.040 to put more energy into it and get more results. 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.280 But she just competed in you know, swim carnivals, everything, 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:30.080 And the thing was there's no castigation for failure. 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:32.760 There was no you know, we always encouraged her and. 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:34.440 Said well done no matter what she got, because we 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:36.760 know she did her best. So I don't think she 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:39.880 ever developed an anxiety. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:41.920 seen her anxious since then on the world stage, but 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:44.720 she was never anxious as a junior. So no, I 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:46.640 don't think burnout was an issue. And we always kept 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.960 the fun, like we'd invite her friends around, you know, 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:53.440 even her competitors to an end of season barbecue. Said 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:55.600 that they would all stay friends and it'd be friendly 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:58.520 on the track and they you know, like they'd support 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:00.400 each other when the other one was So we just 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.320 kept it light and happy and relaxed. I think was 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:04.760 the thing growing up. 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.480 I think you raised a really good point here about 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:12.320 walking that fine line between encouraging them and kind of 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:16.640 channeling their talent versus pushing them too hard. And I 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:20.000 was listening to an interview with the parents of Olympic 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:23.320 Rower and they said that they had a deal with 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:26.320 their son where they would do everything to support him, 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:28.880 but he had to get out of bed on his own. 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.720 And you know, rowers wake up at ridiculous times. It's 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:33.640 usually got a four in front of it. And they 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:37.160 said we would get up, make their sandwiches, drive them, 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:39.960 you know, do all that, but they had to be 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:42.000 the one to get out of the bed when the 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:42.720 alarm went off. 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.480 And I thought, what a great line to draw. 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:48.760 Tell me, Tony, I want to ask you for us, 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.800 you know, parents of children with the glimmer of hope, 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:55.360 what advice would you give us? If you know, if 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.880 our child is showing either talent or passion for a 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:00.720 particular sport, how do you suggest as we walk that 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:05.640 line between encouraging them without pushing them so hard. 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:07.440 Yeah, I don't know. Maybe we were just lucky. 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:09.560 I mean Jenevie would get her self out of you know, 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:11.480 she'd pack a bag the night before for training, so 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:13.760 like she was, she was organized. 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:15.360 Self motivated, yeah. 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:15.920 Self motivated. 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:18.720 But we didn't focus on any one thing. We didn't 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:20.640 make that the goal. So if you didn't succeed that 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.520 one sport or event, your life wasn't over. So she 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:28.600 went to nationals for triathlon, cross country, all of them, 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:30.720 so she bloys had something else to fall back on. 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:33.600 If you're talk about pushing, I just don't feel they 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.440 ever had to push. You've got to put everything in 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.640 their favor, but let them, Like the Roberts' parents said, 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:41.240 you've got to put in your bit love that, and 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:41.920 they generally do. 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.600 Yeah, it's almost like being their coach, you know, like 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:46.320 they're the ones who's got to turn up, but you 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:50.120 know you're going to provide that extra support. I guess, yeah, 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.560 what about when you've got the kid that shows talent 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:55.680 but the motivation's not there A bit like my story 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.040 at the start, me trying to get Lucky out in training, 0:16:58.040 --> 0:17:00.000 but he's just not that into it. Do you think 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:04.560 think it's worth pursuing that or how do you balance 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:05.080 that out? 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:07.920 Well, you can do it. For a short while, Jennevie 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.320 didn't want to go to America. She didn't want to 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:13.199 go to college. She tried to miss the test, you know, 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:16.720 like she did everything to avoid going. We just insisted, 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:19.560 you know, through tears and everything else. We made her go. 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:22.600 But that was towards the end of her career. I've 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:24.760 known plenty of kids. There were so many talented kids 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:26.800 that Jenneviet came across growing up. 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:28.439 They just never went on with it. 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:31.760 But I think you've just got to You can't make them, 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.800 but you can make everything easier for them, make it 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:38.359 absolutely easy, so that they will eventually pick up the 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.239 desire when they see it. Get rewarded by success, they 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:42.760 get reinforced by success. 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.080 Why do you think those kids? 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:47.199 If you can think of a handful of kids with 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:51.040 immense talent you saw but they didn't go forward. 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:53.120 What were some of the reasons why. 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:54.879 A big one was crazy parents? 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:57.760 What do you mean by crazy parents? Oh, I'm starting 0:17:57.800 --> 0:17:58.359 to get worried. 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.480 I know there are some crazy parents. So I saw 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:03.040 a lot of my sours, some amazingly talented kids, and 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:06.119 the parents just worked too hard on them, too pushy, 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:07.800 you know, too demanding. 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:10.080 Look, honestly, Genevieve lost. 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:13.200 That was okay, you're on a foster defeatism, but it's 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:15.000 also say, you know, you did the best, the girl 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:16.400 was too good for you. There's not much you can 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:18.440 do about it. You know, let's get it next time, 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:21.200 And she got them next time. But I've seen people 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.520 tearing into their kids and giving them a hard time. 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:25.680 Oh, that's terrible. 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:28.440 But also I was once again very lucky. 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:32.159 It was it coincided with a relatively affluent time of 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:36.280