You know when you’re trying to talk but you’re actually sputtering the words because you’ve started crying through them? You’re talking and crying at the same time. You don’t want to stop talking because you have something important to say. But if you continue you might just burst into full-blown tears?

That was me last Saturday. That was exactly what I was doing at the mic –  in front of literally 200 people at the Elite Your Tour tournament at Lisle Lanes. I lost it.

It was the first time that had ever happened to me. Normally, I can keep my emotions in check. But there was a reason this day, and this EYT tournament was different. That morning when I gave the opening remarks of the tournament and stumbled through quivering words, I was telling everyone there that it was my daughter Jersey’s first tournament ever. I just couldn’t hold back my emotions.

Before the tournament, when I was writing and reviewing my opening remarks, I knew it would be an emotional moment. But even then, I didn’t know that when I started to deliver the tournament’s opening message, I’d get choked up and cry.

In that moment, the emotions of the moment proved stronger than me. My little baby was bowling in her first tournament ever. In the world that I built!

I wasn’t just getting emotional because she is growing up and it was her first tournament ever though. It was just the fact that she was bowling in the EYT, something I built. When I built it, it really didn’t occur to me that one day my kids would be bowling in it. And yet, there I was, soaking in that realization that my kids had this empowering community of youth bowlers to join. EYT was there for them because I built it. I built EYT for youth before they existed, and now because it exists, they have something they can both be a part of. It was just really a big moment for me, and there’s only ever going to be one of those moments. I just felt it deeply. To sum it up as an emotional moment is an understatement.

As much as I do usually keep my emotions in check, as embarrassing as crying into a mic could be to some, it was one of those raw and vulnerable moments I just owned as a parent. I’ve always been a “wear my heart on my sleeve” type of person. What you see is what you get.

Other parents came up to me later and told me it made them cry too as it connected them to memories of seeing their kids compete for the first time as well and it touched them to see what that moment meant to me. Those moments of firsts are always so powerful to witness.

There were no expectations going into the event. There was no pressure. We wanted Jersey to have fun, to be led by the joy of bowling, while getting a taste of what it means to be in a tournament.

Then she surprised us all. She enjoyed the experience AND bowled her best ever. Literally. Her first game, she bowled 140, her personal best. It wasn’t an easy pattern either. It was much more difficult than anything she’d practiced on before. She was so nervous but man, you could not see it on her face at all. Reminded me of a certain someone. 

Jersey literally looked like a little 8-year-old pro out there. When she competes, she’s nervous, but you can’t really tell. She appears really focused instead. Her form was also on point. So good, in fact, that a lot of parents came up to me and commented on it. She’s so little out there but yet she really understands what to do. She makes so many good moves. I can’t take credit for a lot of it because while I’ve worked with her on a couple things, most of what she does is what she’s picked up by watching. 

Watching her there last weekend will be forever ingrained in my memory.

I’m so proud of what I’ve built with EYT and seeing it positively impact both my own kids just makes EYT’s overall impact sink in that much more now.

The EYT community is growing stronger every month and it’s humbling how they support each other and show up each month, and now they’re showing up for the community. Last week was our strongest turnout in awhile and our donation table for Chicago Animal Care was full again. People who didn’t even have pets donated. I try to count and quantify how much we collect. At the end of the year, I’ll put all the numbers together, for a better picture of how significant the contributions have been to the community. Last weekend we collected over 100 items to support animal shelters. The fact that our impact in the community has gone beyond bowling means a lot to me. I’m just so proud that we’re able to do this.

Now that my kids have both officially become a part of the EYT community, there’s a lot that I am hopeful they will get out of it. Most of it has less to do with the bowling than it does the community’s values, leadership – and how a community like that can shape who they become.