What Happens When Your Sidelines Go Quiet: My Kids Grew Up - Here's What I Do With the Free Time
Mighty Oak Athletic Podcast S3:E91 - What Happens When Your Sidelines Go Quiet: My Kids Grew Up - Here's What I Do With the Free Time
My kids are older now. High school and college. The seasons of standing on their sidelines, of loading the car for the zoo, of being needed every waking minute — those seasons have mostly come and gone. And here’s what nobody tells you about that stage of parenting: it hands you back something you forgot you had. Time.
I could have filled that time with more work. There’s always more work. Instead, I decided to give it to something I love. Strength training has been my first love since before I could drive, and coaching is the way I know how to share it. So when the opportunity came to connect with Special Olympics and work with their athletes — track and field, powerlifting, flag football, softball, the whole spread of sports these athletes train for — I said yes before I finished hearing the question.
Recently, Coach Libby (our Mighty Oak Athletic dog mascot) and I made our way out to see the athletes at their final practice before they headed off to their state championship events. I want to be careful not to oversell this, so let me just say it plainly: it was one of the best Saturdays I’ve had in years.
Picture a track full of athletes running, jumping, handing off relay batons — with more passion and energy than I’ve seen at meets three times the size. Teammates cheering for teammates. Families cheering for kids they’d never met. Every finish line, no matter the place, treated like a photo finish at the Olympics. The whole atmosphere was contagious in the best possible way.
But what got me wasn’t the events. It was the welcome.
The first time Coach Libby and I walked up, you would have thought John Cena or The Rock had rolled in. These athletes were genuinely thrilled that new people had come out to share the experience with them. They wanted to pet the dog. They wanted to tell me about their lives, their events, their goals. And when it came time to coach, they leaned in.
Here’s something every coach will understand. When I gave a cue — adjust your start, drive your arms, finish through the line — nobody rolled their eyes. Nobody said “I know.” They said thank you. Then they tried it, full effort, right away. They wanted to learn and they wanted to do their best, and that combination is the whole secret of getting better at anything. I’ve coached athletes at every level for more than a decade, and I’m telling you: that attitude is rarer than talent, and these athletes have it in abundance.
I drove home thinking about what we’ve built at Mighty Oak Athletic. Our gym in Westmont has become a pod of energy — kids encouraging kids, families showing up for each other, effort celebrated over outcomes. That culture didn’t happen by accident. We built it, rep by rep, over years. And standing on that track, I realized the athletes of Special Olympics have built the exact same thing. Same values. Same joy. Same belief that strength — physical and otherwise — is worth chasing your whole life.
So this isn’t a one-time visit. As Mighty Oak Athletic continues to grow, we’re going to keep growing our participation with Special Olympics and find ways to share what we’ve built — our coaches, our community, our energy — with communities beyond our four walls. Be strong to be useful. That’s always been the standard here. And I can’t think of a more useful way to spend a Saturday than helping an athlete chase a personal best on the way to a state championship.
If your kids are getting older and your sidelines are getting quieter, take it from me: there’s a track somewhere that would be thrilled to see you walk up. You might arrive as a stranger. You’ll leave as family.
P.S. — If getting involved with these athletes sounds like something for you — volunteering, coaching, sharing your time, or even donating a few dollars to help cover the basic resources that keep their sports going — just email. I’d love to connect you.
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Coach Mike Ockrim connected with Special Olympics as a volunteer coach, working with athletes preparing for track and field, powerlifting, flag football, and softball — a natural fit for a strength and conditioning coach with over a decade of youth coaching experience.
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Athletes train and compete across a wide range of sports, including track and field, powerlifting, flag football, and softball, with local programs culminating in state championship events.
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Coachability. Athletes respond to instruction with gratitude and immediate full effort — the single trait that most accelerates improvement in any sport at any level.
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Reply to the Mighty Oak Athletic newsletter or reach out through mightyoakathletic.com. Opportunities include volunteering, coaching, sharing your time, or donating to help cover basic resources for the athletes.
