‘Support your children’
Jennifer Bolt talks about need for encouragement for young athletes
Jennifer Bolt, the mother of sprint legend Usain, is encouraging parents to support their children’s dream of a professional sports career.
She encourages them to support their child in whatever way they can while finding out their likes and dislikes about the sports they play.
“Sometimes they (the parents) might think it is easy, but to get them to a professional level is not an easy task, so you would have to work with that child, encourage them and give your moral support,” Mrs Bolt told STAR Sports.
Bolt said parents should try to make sure their children have a balance between their academics and sports.
“I would encourage others to help their child along the way, whatever they want to do you will have to encourage them,” she said. “Show them the way and let them know ‘if you want to do that (sports), you will have to do this (schoolwork). You would have to work for what you want.’
“And if you (the parents) can’t manage, get somebody to help them.”
She said while they do this, they also have to encourage their children not to give up.
“For Usain, we did not have much of a challenge because he loves what he does,” she said.
For her, the biggest challenge was Usain mostly competing on their Sabbath.
“It was very challenging because as a Seventh-day Adventist it wasn’t easy,” she said.
“We had to pray because, you know, running on Sabbath [is not recommended] and most of his competitions were on Saturdays.”
She said his father, Wellesley, would be the one who mostly attended these Saturday meets because he is not an Adventist.
Despite this challenge, she said it was fun for them to support him because they also participated in track and field at a younger age.
“Going to watch him do what he likes best,” is what she said was the best part about her playing a supportive role.