Another interesting topic @galenkp!
Something to think about!
My obvious answer here would be my mom cause she did more for me than I could ever repay.... But... I'm going for the less obvious and I'm going to someone outside my family.
I started playing basketball 🏀 when I was 11 years old (believe it or not I swam and played tennis before that). I was living in Suriname at the time and I'd seen some NBA highlights which totally sparked my fire. After telling/asking my mom I ended up at my basketball team: CLD
(which stands for Caribbean Little Devils) 😃😃😃
My first coach was the great Rudi Nijman, a true Surinamese basketball legend and one of the best coaches. This man didn't only teach us the basics of basketball, he taught us life lessons along the way. He always made sure that we put school first! He taught us discipline, he taught us respect for each other... He taught us positive thinking! He did all of this without necessarily drawing attention to it, some of them are just things he said during the practice or in one of his famous stories. And the funny thing is as a kid you didn't even realize it.
It's only years later, that you recognize these values!
He has since passed away but if I had to think of an influencer, especially given the fact that 1) I still play basketball, 2) Many of my friends till this day stem from these basketball days! 3) I'm currently trying to pass it on by coaching basketball here in Curacao.
Wow! What a great man Rudi Nijman was! I see he positively influenced you without realizing it. The best times to shapen a person is from childhood and growing up years because that is when we are most receptive and nursing dreams about our future.
Here you are now because of your coach's influence, passing on the knowledge and experience to other young minds. I wish success on this endeavor! 💪
Thank you!
Exactly, this is why I'm some grateful, cause if he was a bad coach/man I probably would have less of these values...
And it's a reminder for myself of the responsibility I have now.
Do you play any sports?
Nope! 😄 I'm not a sports person. I tried volleyball in school but could not get it. 🤷♀️
Haha you can always try chess or checkers, I think it qualifies 😃
Nope! 😄 I'm not a sports person. I tried volleyball in school but could not get it. 🤷♀️
This is a great story indeed. Of course, let's take a moment to thank Mrs. Gvkanten for all she did for you, but choosing a sporting coach is cool. These people have so much influence over how young people develop, not just from a sporting perspective but in life aspects as you say. We learn how to win gracefully and with humility, how to accept loss, strive harder to improve and how to interact with others as part of a team. They tech us about so many things and, as you say, many of those lessons stay with us for life.
Thanks for joining in this week, I appreciate it and hope you have a great weekend.
!ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.Same -Mom is the person who has had a significant influence on me. She has spent whole life taking care her children.
I'm sorry to hear about the legend Rudi Nijman. He definitely amazing coach. It's true that when we were a kid we too carefree and innocent to realize things 😊
I hope you will be a successful basketball coach and inspire many other kids like the way Rudi Nijman did 😍
Haha yes I'm a proud mama's boy in that regard 😂.
Thanks I'm gonna at least try!
How about you? Do you play any sports?
I don't play sport but I'm an active person. Love hiking, bicycle riding and swimming :)
Learning values as a kid is much easier and your coach did justice to that by being a good mentor and influencer to your life. Just as you have being influenced positively, its great to know you are doing same by coaching others
Exactly! And I also realize it could have turned out bad if I happened to have a bad coach/influence.
So I was lucky!
What kind of life lessons would you want to instill in kids?
Just as you stated above, discipline, respect and you can add perseverance to it
How wonderful influence you had. All coaches, teachers and mentors should have this kind of influence. I had as well a big influence from my teacher, but it will come in my response to Galen's topic.
Indeed! Okay I'm going to check out your comment cause I'm wondering which teacher influenced you :)