The Houston Sonics have a long history of achievements that have served as an inspiration to their younger teammates to strive for greater accomplishments of their own on the track. But we often fail to realize how the impact our athletes have on others outside of the track circles in which we live.
Following the 4th place finish at the 2018 AAU Junior Olympics of our 13-14 Boys 4×800 meter relay team, news of this achievement was submitted to Boy’s Life Magazine since two of the team members, Isaiah and Nathan, are active members of Boy Scouts of America. Some time after the story of the boys was published, we received a surprise email from a scoutmaster in New York. It reads as follows…
Good Morning Camille, Kenneth and Robert,
I’m the Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 325, and our patrol leader (Chris Edwards) advised that I should reach out to let you and your team know that a small group of kids in our troop were inspired by your club’s website and committed to a kids triathlon for our recent personal fitness badge project. The race is nowhere near as long as a real triathlon of course, but there will definitely be running, biking and swimming involved!
I wanted to say thank you for the part you’ve played here. Sometimes it just takes a little spark of inspiration to get kids moving and trying something new, and your efforts did just that – really great job here!
Chris thought you also might appreciate the article they presented, “A Beginners Guide to Triathlons”. I’ve listed this one below if you’d like to take a look. I agree with his opinion that it’s an excellent find, and think it might be helpful to other young runners coming across your information as well. If you find it’s something you’re able to add to your list, would you let me know? houstonsonics.com/links/
Chris and I would love to hear what you all think about the suggestion, and even surprise the kids if it ends up being included! Thanks a lot, really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one.
https://centralparkbikerental.nyc/rentals/a-beginners-guide-to-triathlons
James Gardner
Scoutmaster
So keep doing what you do, Sonics athletes. Your efforts are having an impact on more people than you could ever imagine!