From cheering on their child during a competition to driving them to practice, parents are many a student athletes’ support system. Having their parents behind them has helped many Northview students find success in their sport.
In seventh grade, junior Hasten Horling decided she wanted to start swimming. Her brother had joined that same year, inspiring her to take part in the sport as well.
“I thought I might as well join him,” Horling said.
Horling told her parents and they supported her right from the start. Hearing that a nearby club swim team called Riptide had a great swim program, Horling got her parents to sign her up. Even though they didn’t know anything about swimming, they cheered her on at every meet.
The backbone of Horling’s swim career is the support of her family. She loves the feeling of knowing that she has people in the stands while she swims. Their encouragement during her bad days helps her get through them.
“I could not have asked for a better support team,” Horling said.
When Horling is exhausted from practice, her parents will help her with her chores. They make sure to make her healthy meals, so she can do her best at competitions. With her parents’ help, Horling smoothly deals with every practice and meet on top of all her school work.
“I really can’t imagine how I would get through swimming without my parents,” Horling said.
She truly is grateful for all their encouragement.
Junior Madison Rempalski’s parents have also helped her gain success in her sport when she decided she wanted to join cross country for the fall season after running with the team during the summer. Even though Rempalski knew that running cross country and playing Volleyball at the same time would be difficult, she wanted to do it anyway. Her parents were unsure about her joining, but supported her in her decision.
“They knew that it was making me happy and they were like ‘if you really want to, go for it,’” Rempalski said.
During her races, she loves hearing the cheers of everyone in the crowd, especially her parents. Their voices push Rempalski to do her best. When she gets frustrated her parents’ encouragement helps to keep her head up.
“When you hear your own parents’ voices it really motivates you,” Rempalski said.“It gives you a burst of energy you didn’t know you had.”
At the end of every race, her parents are at the finish line waiting for her. They always have a bottle of water and encouraging words to give. When her lungs are burning and she’s tired of running, knowing her parents are there waiting for her pushes Rempalski through her races.
“As teenagers, we fight with our parents, but it is nice to know that they are there for us,” Rempalski said.
