Shelly Christenson is the grandma of Dontay McMurtrey. Shelly has raised Dontay since he was 8 years old. He found love and passion for baseball at a young age. She has supported him through the decision to play baseball, football, wrestling, and track. She has sacrificed time out of her day to be there and support him when hes had a game or match. When asked what it is like being the parent of an athlete she said, ” Behind every teenage athlete is an exhausted parent. Extreme highs and crushing lows are part of an athlete’s life. We sit shivering on the bleachers, draped in blankets and coasts. We are there in the rain, hail, sleet, and snow and have not missed a game yet. Because that’s what we do. We all endure and enjoy this crazy, busy, maddening, and wonderful life we live with our athletes. We are constantly checking the schedule to see when and where the next game or match or meet is and how we can rearrange our own schedules to be there. We are scrolling through our inboxes opening weekly and daily emails from schedule changes, game information, and event regulations.

We show up, no matter how crappy we feel or how crappy the weather is, or how crappy life is because we would do pretty much anything to be there for our son or daughter. We get up at ungodly hours and travel far to spend weekends away with our car packed full of a week’s worth of food and drinks, sports bags and chairs, sunblock and umbrellas, and layers of clothes. We’ll come back from these long weekends tired and grubby, sunburned or frost-bitten, to face the long week ahead.

We are constantly watching our tight budget because having a kid in any sport is expensive. We sacrifice what we can to manage the sports fees, ticket charges, hotel expenses, athletic -wear purchases, and all the ongoing fundraising donations and special event contributions we make to invest in the program and our players.

We deliver team meals and work at concession stands, we volunteer in countless ways to help run the events successfully and support our team. When we’re not watching our kid compete, we are showing up to volunteer at another sporting event, running ticket sales, concession stands, or logging stats.

We’ll fret about filling our kid’s ravenous appetite with whatever carbs or protein we can throw on their plats. Our kitchen is open all hours of the night because practices and games always end late and our kids come home tired and hungry and sometimes a little crabby. We stock up on bulk Gatorade and water, snacks, and pre-made meals to make our hectic, frazzled lives a little bit easier. And we frequent the fast-food drive-thru and carry-out restaurants and pick up orders of their favorite food a little more than we’d like because sometimes it’s just easier  after spending so many hours being away from home.

We’ll hear every detail of our athlete’s training: we’ll listen to all the new strategies or skill-building drills and how each player is doing. There are ongoing conversations about numbers and stats and PR times and how they are improving or not. We’ll have to scoop on all the other teams in our district and where our team stands.

We are praising our kids when they are excelling at their sport and working hard. We’re consoling then and consoling them through tough calls and painful setbacks, hard-fought losses, and we understand that our kid’s sports are a big deal to them, so we make sure they feel heard and validated because we know, that’s what they need most of all.

Our kids uniforms and practice clothes are always soaking in the washer with whatever new magic potion that promises to take out the stains and the stench. It rarely does, so we wash them again. There are knotted socks and twisted jerseys, soaking wet towels, and dirty-covered cleats. There are bags that bulge with equipment shoved in, and garages full of sporting goods from years gone by that we plan on selling or giving away. Some day. Behind every teen athlete you will find a very exhausted parent!” Being the parent of an athlete is not always easy. There are always going to be highs and lows.