As a kid, I felt things very deeply. I was highly anxious, a perfectionist, had low self esteem etc …

And sports day was a very public way of showcasing what I thought I was very bad at. A fate worse than death for a kid like me.

Other kids who didn’t do so well just shrugged it off, but I pinned my entire self-worth on the little score card pinned to my shirt.

So recently, when adult me was given the honour of speaking at the 50th anniversary of Mildura Little Aths, I found myself taking the microphone and without further ado launching into a childhood trauma story about how much I hated sport.

I was shocked and mortified. How the hell did I just blurt that out??? The words just kind of fell out of my mouth.

I rounded it off by saying that my negative experiences gave me enormous respect and appreciation for Sunraysia Little Aths precisely because its emphasis was always firmly on beating your own best score, not out-doing someone else.

But I felt I’d given a bit too much context. Been a bit too vulnerable. I was a speaker at a sports event, for Christ’s sake, not a guest on the Dr Phil Show.

I kicked myself over and over in the car on the way home and vowed to never speak of my sporting trauma or the trauma speech ever again.

Because the truth was I didn’t want any child to feel that they had to shrink from their talent to make kids like me feel better. If you’re good at something you should own it. You are entitled to be proud of your gifts, whatever they may be.

Sporting humiliation, or any sort of humiliation of children for their abilities or lack thereof, is never the fault of the talented kids. Whether it’s sport, or maths, or singing or anything. In every case, it’s all about the framing the adults put around it. And on that measure, Sunraysia Little Aths has it all worked out.

By encouraging kids to focus on their personal best, rather than comparing themselves to others, they had unlocked the secret to bringing kids, of all skill levels, into the same space, and ensuring they all felt a sense of achievement.

For 50 years, that’s been the ethos of Mildura Little Aths and I loved it so much that the final thing I did before scurrying off with my tail between my legs was to ask the President when the 2022 season would be kicking off.

Because I want my son to be a part of a club like that. I trust it to set good, solid foundations for Jed’s relationship with sport.

So that sport becomes a positive force in his life, one that helps to shape a healthy balanced sense of achievement, participation, aspiration and self esteem.

Fast forward to last week when I broke my own rule and mentioned my speech to my Chief of Staff, Stevie, who had been in the audience that day but had to leave before the formalities had finished.

“Stevie, next time I go anywhere near a sporting field, can you make sure I pre-write my speech? I don’t think my childhood trauma story went over too well”, I mumbled.

“What?? I loved it!!” He said.

My jaw dropped, “Seriously?” I had thought the reason he left early was he was too embarrassed to stay.

“YES! I hated sport too! Heaps of people did. And you were using it to highlight what a great club THEY were. Just bloody relax.”

And so I did. Because I knew what I meant. And there was a chance that others did too.

Happy New Year to our local sporting community. May 2022 bring you great success.

And PLEASE never forget, if you’ve got it, flaunt it