Alex Compton delivers inspiring talk on “Guiding Your Child’s Athletic Journey”

CEBU, Philippines —  Former professional basketball player and coach turned author and motivational speaker Alex Compton delivered an inspiring talk about his book, “Guiding Your Child’s Athletic Journey”, on Saturday, March 14, at the Pope Francis Hall of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue City.

“We released a book March 16th last year, it’s about helping parents and helping kids. It’s always in my heart because my major in college is human development in family studies. Having kids and going through it, it became a passion project for me,” said Compton.

The meaningful undertaking spearheaded by the SHS-Ateneo de Cebu Alumni Association headed by Afshin Ghassemi was aimed at helping the parents reflect on the role they want to play in their child’s athletic journey and support them the right way.

Compton, former head coach of the Alaska Aces in the PBA and assistant coach of Gilas Pilipinas, believes that sports can help children develop confidence, resilience, discipline, and leadership but the experience they have in sports is shaped greatly by the adults around them. With that, Compton highlighted the significance of values-based parenting in nurturing young athletes with purpose on and off the court and molding not only better players, but stronger individuals and champions for life.

After the event, Compton signed some copies of the “Wisest Learners: Guiding Your Child’s Athletic Journey”, a book he co-authored with his friend Kevin Dalafu with the idea of helping parents create a supportive environment that prioritizes character, perseverance, and enjoyment over mere winning in the sporting field.

“I think there’s not a ton of material out there for us as parents on how to guide our child through sports. There is a lot of pressure in sports and false expectations in sports with a lot of well-intentioned parents that don’t know the best practices and sometimes some stuff are very practical that we don’t know and sometimes stuff might be a little deeper, but there’s no manual for that,” said Compton.

“We thought if we can write a book to help parents navigate all these sports things that impact our kids’ lives so much, then maybe we can help prompt intentionality and maybe in the long run really deepen and strengthen family relationships which is the core of everything we do,” Compton added.