Building Champions: Robert Esmie on Speed, Discipline & the Next Generation

[01:09:22;24 - 01:10:31;24]
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Love the North. I'm your host, Eric, and here today we're going to be talking a little bit about speed. From the Speed Center, we have Robert Esme, former Olympian in the house from the 96 Atlanta summer games, where he blasted off out of the blocks and led the team to their goal of medal in Atlanta. So we'll show some of that in the background. And so today we have Robert here. Robert, good to see you. You've been on the podcast again with our host, Mike. Correct. It's about a year ago. And so how have you been keeping for the last year? A year has been a phenomenal year. A lot has happened. We have some new athletes on board making their mark in the scene of track and field. A lot of athletes achieve scholarships. That was part of the goal from the last book. They're graduating a class to get some D1s and new sport scholarships. We had a lot of performance on the track at the officer, legions, Ontario summer games,

[01:10:33;04 - 01:10:38;26]
medals and PBs everywhere. PBs are flying off the shelf. PBs? Yeah. Yeah.

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PBs, that's your personal best? Correct. So, independent store, metro, every PB we get, we should be getting $100 going forward. So, we've got a couple of young athletes here.

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Introduce yourself and what are the events that you are taking over here at Airblastog?

[01:11:05;22 - 01:11:20;26]
My name is Ashlyn. I do the 100, 200, 300, and 400. Okay. I am Aiden Nixon and I do the 1, 2, 3, and the javelin. Javelin, okay. So, how did you get started in track?

[01:11:22;26 - 01:11:40;03]
Well, I started in, well, I originally started in Cross Country. Cross Country, are you ready? Yeah. Okay. I went to Cross Country and then after a while I started to get in track and field. I was literally supposed to be a business runner. And then I started doing the 100 and I loved that. So, I did the 200 and I even loved that even more.

[01:11:41;10 - 01:11:54;20]
I realized that because I wasn't doing exactly as the 1 or the 2, I decided to do the 100 and I loved the 1, 2. Ah, okay. So, long jump is where you're running and then you hit the mark and you jump as far as you can? Yeah. Okay. Okay.

[01:11:56;10 - 01:12:28;18]
And what about you? What got you into track? Well, yeah. I started in Cross Country too and then I moved my way. And then I started doing the 400 meters and I just moved my way down and I loved the 1, 2, 3, and 1. I had to do a build-about and I didn't want to do like, I didn't know I moved down so I wanted to grow. So, I decided to do a job running and I was just like, "I'm gonna stick around." And then I moved on to the new bridge. Okay. Okay. So, from when you started to how long, how many years have you been working at this time?

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Well, this would just start with Ross. I started off in June to September, but I started running when I was in grade 5. Okay.

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So, since you started with Air Blast Off, how have your PBs been, how have they been going? Really well. Like, when I started, I was running, in my 50 meters, running a P50 and now I'm down to a new turn.

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Okay. Pretty good.

[01:13:03;04 - 01:13:18;04]
How about your events? Well, I started in my 100 meters, I started with a 13, 43, and now I'm down to a 12, 15, 5. That's almost a full second. Yeah. Yeah, that's really good.

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Rob, your methods and your discipline with how the athletes improve, is there a secret? Yes, me and Jesus.

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Many people will try to duplicate some of the things we do. They'll see what we do. But, I mean, that's like, you know, when I take them to certain camps, you'll see the Olympians doing the same warm-up drills and different things. But the question one has to ask itself, who's teaching it? What effects they have on those athletes? And when you do those drills or those specific training for a certain time of the year. Right? A lot of people can copy things, but it's not their original.

[01:14:12;06 - 01:14:59;06]
You know, as a bystander, as a parent that's off to the side watching and listening and all that stuff, I had a conversation with another parent, and one thing he mentioned that really hit home was you, with Air Blastoff, can't get any closer to the podium when you're being taught by an Olympian. And that's something that you can't get anywhere. That is something that is here, and that really, it didn't sink in until I think the next time I had come out to track, and I thought, yeah, you know what, he's right. This is, you know, the gold medal's here. You're getting taught by the guy who actually knows how to get the gold medal. So that's definitely one of the great advantages. Thank you.

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As for the future, where do you want to go with track? What do you want to get out of it?

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For me, I want to go to the other side. I want to go to college. Yeah.

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Okay. That's like right to the top. I think you've got a great coach for that.

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I think you've got the best coach.

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Any last words that you two want to say?

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I just heard from Alab and the whole Air Blastoff team working with May Native. Can you give me a little bit of an answer? I'm looking for a long answer. What is unique that some should realize, there's different aspect of the program. We have our regular Air Blastoff athletes. We have our high performance Air Blastoff athletes. They have to achieve a standard that is set based on the standard set in the legions of nationals. Or they have to show me the potential of them achieving that within that 12-month window. They must carry a minimum 80 percent because a majority of these athletes, except my son, carry pretty much over 90 percent. All right. When you look at the graduating class of the Air Blastoff crew, one will be the surgeon, four engineers. So it's quite advanced. And when you look at some of the students that we have, going into the engineer program, I think there's only six of them, engineer program in Canada, the schools that offers it. When you look at those students who come in to engineer, that's all they do is study, and they need the minimum 96 to get into the program. So when you can have a student athlete such as us, who carry 95, 96, and has a balanced athletic side, it's a shoe in because a lot of times the university may say, "Hey, you know what? This person is 98 average. They're shoe in, but they have no personality."

[01:17:05;04 - 01:17:48;21]
Right? They don't know how to survive in the system. But when you have an athlete, student athletes, carrying 95, 96 percent, and who knows, interact with everyone, participate, and still be able to maintain that average throughout their busy athletic life. Those are the guys that want in. And when you look at CEOs and stuff, they want those student athletes at that high level to run their companies and their businesses. Yeah, you've got to be not just... I remember in school, we asked the prof, "Why do we have to take these other classes?" And the prof at the time said, "Have you ever talked to somebody who only did this?" Like, you know, they would have no personality. You've got to be all rounded.

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That's why these ladies carry... What's the average ladies in school?

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Yeah.

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Yeah. Alright. And in layman's term for the Canadians, what percentage was it? Ninety-what?

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Ninety-six.

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So we know this twin has some more work to do. I thought there were twins on all aspects, but don't worry about it. (Laughter) In the school part of it, where does the discipline come from? How do you get that, those kinds of marks?

[01:18:32;15 - 01:19:07;09]
I just try my best to know, like, I do all advanced courses, you know, the challenge struggling with, you know, track, sports, and learning. But I try my best to push really hard, you know, if I'm working towards being more level-going, no one has to be sure we're going to get that. Okay. Yeah, I really know that I have to, like, keep my grades up and, like, really have to, like, take it seriously, like, work hard for it. Congratulations. I think you're doing... I think you're on the right track. Yeah. Alright.

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That's it for their interview? That's it. Oh, you might want to talk... Bling, bling, zang. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they got some big stuff that they've been doing on the track.

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Yeah, yeah. Alright. Action. Does every medal have a story?

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Some do. Okay. Yeah.

[01:19:28;08 - 01:19:29;05]
Yeah. Okay, so...

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Let me talk about my MTA one. My MTA one is kind of the most I mean, because this is my first medal... This is my first medal back in outdoor doing, like, no jumps, like, really rough.

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So, this... Last year, I went to this MTA championship, and I did really, really awful. I didn't make the final. I didn't even medal, and I was really upset about it, and I came back this year and won the Google Championship.

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Big up, big up, big up. Yes, we do have live audience. I really, really enjoyed this medal when I won. I was so shocked because I was team fourth for this event, and I got fourth.

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I blew away the competition, just came back from my 100 freedom, and I blew away the competition. So, what event was this again? This was the long jump. The long jump. Okay. My new favorite event. Wow.

[01:20:27;20 - 01:20:47;29]
And for those who Ontario minor Track and Field Association, it aligns with the US system. Yeah. AO aligns with the global system. They go U14, U16, U18. These guys will run in, like, U9 odd years, right? 11, 12... I mean 11, 13, 15, 17, 19. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:20:50;20 - 01:23:13;07]
I think the one that means the most to me is this awesome one. I think that's the one that, like, meant the most to me. Where I knew that I had to get the best blocks, or I knew I had to, like, go in there and, like, tear down the track. I knew that I had to do that, and I think this one means the most to me because when I came there, I was, like, running for, like, tenth or whatever coming in or something like that. And then I knew that I had to, like, crush my heart when I knew I had to, like, do all that, and then I came up with the bronze. As soon as I crossed that line, I knew it. I knew that I got that bronze, and I felt it. I felt when I stepped on that line, I knew that I had won that bronze. Was there also a PB for that race? Yeah, I wasn't. No? Okay. Well, usually at a championship, it's a mental aspect of the game, is who can rise and shine and show up at that moment, as long as the physical work's done. One thing you must understand about our AAFSA, Ontario Track and Field Association, it's probably the second to third biggest high school meet in North America. Uh-huh. Right? So you got over 3,000 athletes showing up once, one of those medals. Yeah. And you have to go through different rounds, your cities, or get through there, get through your NAASA, your regions. And only 24 of the best, of the best, from corner to corner of the province, get invited to that big dance. And from that dance, your job is to go in and go to battle and go to war, and people you'll never see before or will ever see showing up looking to get their medals. So you got to go in as a gal- what do you call it? Gal- I've list them. Gal- Galligator, or you know, one of- Gladiator. There you go. He's going to say the word for me. Gladiator. Gladiator. And go to war. And you got to get through the rounds, and you got to be strategic, and you got to be mentally. As we say, air blast off is performance. When the mind, body, and soul come to that moment and rise for that occasion and do it right there and then. Right? It can't be yesterday. It can't be tomorrow. It's right here, right now, and perform to go lock in your medal. And it's her first officer. People don't even- people been to four or five officers and never get a medal. She went in and teared on the stadium to get her first. Her sister was very close, but don't worry, we're going to retool for next year. So what grade are you going into for this coming up school year?

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Great 10. Okay. Wow, that gives us perspective. You know, grade 10, grade marks. And grade medals. Yeah, there you go.

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All right, thank you. Good job, ladies.

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(Applause) Oh, yeah, man.

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(Inaudible) Oh, but you're too- yeah, they're like twins, eh?

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They're not fern- yeah, they're not fernal. He don't listen to his kid, no? Yeah. Come on down. You guys just go home, hands- I'll just put an end to the same medals. It's okay. He can talk about some of his- Yeah, except officer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got tons of- yeah, he's the man of the year. These guys are the man of the year. So they're breaking all the city records for a school. Yeah. And they went on. They're both globally ranked number one in the country, number one in Ontario. And many different events are number two. So they got accolades to go through the yin-yang and basketball.

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Yeah, all right, so.

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Yeah. You can still fall under U16 if you're fast enough.

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But anyway, for U14, for his age, in the province. But anyway, they're all yours.

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All your events that you did. And he's a basketball player too, so you might want to dig into that. Anyway, I speak, sit up, sit up, use posture.

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Yeah.

[01:24:52;26 - 01:25:03;23]
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. All right. So here we are. We have two more athletes. I've seen these two perform as well.

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We have Lyon and we have Yubi. So Yubi, what events do you participate in? Actually, no way. First, what got you into track and field? Okay, so a slight and really interesting story. I was--I did not even knew what track and field and field was when I was in grade seven. Okay. So I got introduced from school track. I was just in school. I was--I didn't even have the proper running shoes for track. And I was just winning every race and it was the championship. Me and my dad chose out to that meet for the first time to watch me and by coincidence, like by God's grace, Coach Raul was there too and he and my dad talked and my dad did not really take it lightly. He just took it lightly at that moment. Like next day, he goes to Coach Raul and he finds out who he is and then I got scouted from there and that's when my track journey started. Okay. And before that, I was playing soccer. Soccer? Yeah. Okay. Ryan, this might be a loaded question, but how did your track journey start? No, I would have no idea, but--

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I would say I was just born into it. Born into it, okay.

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Any other words? Not really. Well, let's just share.

[01:26:28;06 - 01:26:46;10]
He was born May 4th. The next day, he was at the track because his sister runs. And ever since then, from that day forward every year, that weekend, there's a track meet for the last 13 years that he's actually born into, arriving at the track. He went right from the belly to the room to the track.

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Anyway, continue.

[01:26:50;20 - 01:27:21;25]
Uly, what events do you take part in? I do the 400 meters and the 800 meters and also the 300. The 300? Yeah. I didn't know there was a 300. In certain meets and league, based on the development of the athletes, they'll go 80, 150, 300, etc. Like on Terrace Summer Games, sometimes the legions, based on the development stage of those athletes. Okay. Okay.

[01:27:22;29 - 01:27:27;12]
Ryan, what track events do you normally take part in?

[01:27:28;18 - 01:27:37;24]
I do the 80 meters, 100, 150, the 200, high jump, this, this, and jab. Just this and jab. Okay.

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Out of all those events, which ones are your favorite?

[01:27:45;17 - 01:27:48;18]
I'd say the 80 meter or jab.

[01:27:49;19 - 01:28:04;15]
Yeah, one or the other? Okay. Rob, do you have any event that you would favor him to go into, or is it, you know, pick whatever he needs? Well, we're going to pick back up hurdles. Yeah. And we're going to pick back up long jumps and high jump.

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One of the things for, you know, any athletes that I coach, it's even more difficult when it's your own son or your own child.

[01:28:15;14 - 01:28:49;00]
This certain year, they're going to have success based on the age category in certain events. And I wanted to make sure we continue development of those athletes and put them in a position to feel like they're still winning and not feel emotional and physically drained. I don't want to do track anymore because they're getting outperformed and different things. So I think it was about a year and a half ago, we started playing more with the field events for him to still give him some success. He was not focused athletically on the track for me.

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And then he gets blown away even worse. So within the field, it creates that success. So now he's got a repertoire where he can look at potentially, could be one of Canada's next decathlon, because he can jump, throw, hurdles, all the pieces, right? So as we develop over the next couple of years, we're still going to tap into certain parts of those throughout the year to give him that another avenue where he can either dominate individually or he can put them all together into a decathlon type of setup. So it's a decathlon, a bunch of different events? Correct. I believe eight events over two days. Oh, okay. And he went through a couple of meets already where he's doing four, five, six events in a day, right? Yeah, that's a lot. If he's trained properly and all that stuff, you know, it's a challenge. The world's best athlete, that's what they call it for handling. Ladies, I think it's seven. Guys, I think it's eight, right? Where you can handle all those in the next two days. But you do one race at a time, one run at a time, and you try to do your best for one and then walk off to the next event. But I'd have to do a whole bunch of rounds in them. You can just hit your P-E-Bs, get your points and move on. Okay. Yulie, I was at one of your races. I think it was the Angels event this year.

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Yeah, it was the Flying Angels. It was an 800-metre event that you were going in. It was eight athletes lining up there. And by the time Yulie got to about the 1-200-metre mark, he was so far ahead, I was wondering what that kid ate for breakfast.

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(Laughter) Once in a diet. What's going through your-- so when you're on the starting line,

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what's going through your head? To be honest, there's nothing in my head when I'm going for the start. But the reason that I'm ahead from everyone is that I'm running my own race. I don't care who's behind me or who's in front of me. I have my own splits to follow up with my own going for me.

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So it's just me and the cognitive beat. Those are big words. Those are big words because I often hear that you always want to compete against yourself. You never worry about anyone else. It's what are you competing against. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. Line, what-- when you're doing your events, what are you striving for?

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I'd say I'm always striving for a medal for gold. But every meet, I get a few beats. So I'd say that's also a goal to go for. Yeah, definitely. I remember Coach Rob saying there's no medal except for gold.

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I like gold.

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Anything I touch is gold.

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You wear gold, black and gold.

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Black is beautiful. Gold is nice. It works together, baby. So the fall is just around the corner. What's on the horizon for a fair blastoff? Well, definitely we're going to expand some different areas. I'm so blessed to have some great passionate coaches such as I am. When you can have that onboard Coach Casey, she's-- her dedication and passion has gone to another level. So we're going to take over the cross-country distance area. So we've opened that up. We're going to take care of the throws. We expanded with Coach JP.

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And then we also brought in Coach Black for the jumps. So I'm sort of like the guy overseeing everything. Orchestra? Yes, an orchestra. So trying to duplicate myself, but we're looking to grow it. Going into the fall, we want to deal with all the cross-training for multiple sports, September to October. And then from there, we'll start transition to prepare for the indoor season for 2027. Quite a few of us and these young guys going into grade nine and stuff, they will achieve certain standards to qualify to compete in the US. At high school meets and different things, they need to make standards. So we want to get that off the books right away so we can qualify to get into early January for meets. And then from there, we'll go to the US, Jamaica for camps and different things. And then we'll get ready for offs again and then outdoor season. But we're looking to grow the club to hopefully 100 good members who are passionate and want to achieve personal best and grow. And we've got the right team to put that in place. Okay, off to a great start. Thank you everyone for coming in. And that's it. We're from London North. We're at Blastoff. Robert Esme here to talk to us about the program and some of the athletes and we'll see you soon. Oh, hold tight. So for athletes who don't have a club up north, we consider this is a track club for the Northern Ontario. We've got athletes all the way from the Sioux, Timmins, North Bay, Kirkland Lake and all over the place, Manning Tool and Elliott Lake. So if you feel like you love track and field and you want to participate, we can design your program for you to do while you're there. You come in once a month or every two biweekly and get some personalized training and training with the group and then you can compete within the province and stuff. So we can still do things together if you're passionate and want to grow.

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So yeah, you can come to me if you give me a good group of people like Sue St. Marie, you get me 10 athletes, I will take a weekend and come down and spend three, four days once a month so you don't have to come up and offset that, right? So if you bill it, they will come. We've built it and we've built it for Northern Ontario. Not just for Sudbury. Yeah, and I remember actually the Flying Angels meet in Brampton this year and they were talking to some other air blast off athletes. They were from Manitoulin. Yeah. There was some from North Bay and some of the ones that I was talking with. Yeah, they just love the program. Thank you. It was great because like the other parent said, who told me I think last year, you know, I can't get any closer to the goal from the guy who's actually done it. So you know, the training is, he's done it. So he knows how to get them. Yeah, we bill it. Now come.

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We're welcoming you.

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Great attitude too. Don't come with a bad apple. We'll cut you in a minute, right? You got to come with the right behavior, the right mindset, the right family, because you know, one bad apple can ruin everything and we will not allow that. We have a fantastic group that moves like a family and we want to welcome into the family. But you got to know who you're going to let in the family. You can't let everybody in.

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Just being specific, right? So, you know, if the shoot, if the message doesn't sound right to you, that means it's not you.

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Right, right. Right, girls? Yeah, yeah, come in there. Your parents and the parents. I didn't talk as a parent.

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You're fine. She says she's fine.

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You can do it. Yeah, you kids get off. Yeah, yeah, we got to go and focus on the air. Oh, oh, you want to talk about this medal? Oh, yeah, yeah. Sorry, they had you too early.

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Oh, yeah. And then your favorite medal.

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So we got, yeah, your Raj, go ahead. You got a bunch of medals here. So I'll start with this Flying Angels silver medal. It's from last year. That's my first ever track meet and it was international. And I got this silver on Coach Alts birthday. I remember this.

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It's my birthday.

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It's my birthday. It's my birthday. And that was the first time I ever ran 400 meters. And my time was 57 seconds. 57 seconds for 400 meters. Yeah. Did you have good shoes? Yeah, I had. You had proper shoes. On your time now? And my time now is 54 seconds. Really? Yeah, it's in a year. And if I talk about 800 meters, he-- Go ahead. So this is silver and 800. I have bronze and flying. Oh, this is a really interesting story.

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I had bronze last year for 800. And my time was around like 218 to 19. Yeah. First time I ran into 800, I got bronze. And then I come back this year, 800 meters, U16, I run a-- sorry, U15, I run a 205. Yeah. And I break the meet record. (Knocking) (Grunting) Yeah, I'm a race record. That's what we like to do. You've been a race. And there's two more really good medals. Legion's first place for district. I broke the district 800 meter record.

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And then there's one more. It was second from provincial's. But the medal does not matter to me the most. It's the time that I got in provincial's 201. So in the-- On the 800 meter? Yeah. So in a year, I got down by 12, 14 seconds in the 800 meters. Yeah, that's huge. Big up.

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And Coach Casey, here you go.

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(Clapping) Yeah, that's absolutely huge. Big-- I know-- I remember seeing some athletes that are below two minutes, but they're a little bit older. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm a little bit of a twilight. And I see all these big kids from university. And then I see the times when it's high. Really? Yeah. We come to battle. OK. Yeah. What's the difference? Those guys are running, what, 800? And what do we do? Oh, yeah. We don't run the 800. We sprint the 800 because we're in class. (Clapping) Holla at ya, boy. Others run, we sprint. We stop the clock. They wonder what happened.

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All right. There's one more medal. I don't have it. It's from Jamaica. Yeah. Yeah. Go out there and miss. And those kids were pretty big too. And I said, holy moly. And then I'm going two seconds second place. Like, I was first and second guy. It was two seconds far from the start.

[01:39:04;20 - 01:39:28;27]
Yeah. So you went first place? Yeah. Again. They love him in Jamaica. They love him. They love him. You're not seeing who's you are sick. And once again, Jamaica is the Mecca for track and field. And when they love you, he'll be forever loved in Jamaica. Same with Melina. When they arrive, they're like, oh, God, they're here. Yeah. That's the effect he has going forward for Jamaican people. Oh, boy.

[01:39:29;27 - 01:39:41;29]
That's great. That's great. Jamaica is a great place. That's great. That's great. Jamaica is Jamaica on the horizon for this winter again. Yes. Yeah. We don't play. Jamaica trip and vacation at the same time. Yeah. Work vacation. Yeah.

[01:39:43;17 - 01:39:46;24]
Parents vacation. We work. Yeah. Got it.

[01:39:48;10 - 01:39:49;01]
Okay. Oh.

[01:39:50;14 - 01:39:52;29]
Is there any metal in there you want to use? No.

[01:39:54;02 - 01:39:55;14]
No. Okay.

[01:39:59;04 - 01:41:02;09]
My favorite metal is from this year at Summer Games. I was in the finals and I was injured with my ankle and my shoulder. So I got my massage done, wrapped it up, and then I got second with the PB against the ranked number one guy in the province. And I was seated at fourth. And then I went to second. So what event was that? The 80 meters. 80 meters. Okay. Speedy, speedy, go. Yes. One thing you can say for him that I don't have in my collection is Ontario Summer Games medal, right? Ontario Summer Games is mini Olympics. I believe 4,000 athletes similar to Afsa, athletes you've never heard of coming. It's all taken care of to the meet. And he had four, five events, four individual events, and he walk over with four individual medals and I think three to four PBs, right? Personal best.

[01:41:03;16 - 01:41:10;20]
That was in Kitchener Waterloo. And I don't have any of those medals in my collection. Now he looks like he's ready to surpass me.

[01:41:11;26 - 01:41:30;12]
So, yeah. It was a very special moment to see him compete and go through the rounds because you have run rounds as well. Top 24 of the best in the province shows up as well, right? So you have to earn your way. His performance was phenomenal in all his events.

[01:41:31;14 - 01:43:37;21]
You know, and the sprints take almost a second off, like going from 1080 to 10.1 in the 80 meter dash. It's the same thing in the 150, but to see the maturity and the competitive side. As I said to him, I said I only saw this look I think twice in his, in the 13 years when he's pressed and I saw why I called him and named him Lion. I saw the Lion change and the mindset change to compete and rise, right? Because we know the Lion is very smooth and calm and eat down the house and just chill out. But when it's time to rip up the place and you're locking, I still don't see my, I hear my roar on the track yet. Because when he roars, because he used to do that as a baby, when I can get that roar, then we know he's ready to win. The roar is not there yet. So he needs to bring that back and roar right to the podium, right? But you know, he's got potential to grow. But those were my favorite athletic performance of those years is to see him come and battle and come to war, right? And compete. As they're growing and going to stage by stage. Yeah. Great. How old school? Oh, yes. How old school? Yeah, how's school going and where's things tying over? Like are you learning things from the track that you bring into the classroom? Oh yeah, for sure of course. Track is out there now in school for sure. So I just finished my grade eight, I'm going into grade nine. And also switched my school from Missal Intermediate to low-allen. Really? Yeah, grade nine, low-allen. Okay. And I think that track is actually like helping me with my grades. I'm like 96 average in my grade eight. And it's always been better, but I think track gives me the discipline that I can at least in my school. I don't like just fool around because I won't be fooling around in track because there's a lot of coaches that are up to guiding me towards K-C. And that's what I take into my school. Don't fool around and focus on my work.

[01:43:39;00 - 01:44:40;22]
I don't know what to say about that. It's just like our other two students. That's like, they're at the top. It's just, there's... And it's part of the HP. They carry a certain average, right? That's a mandate. And what are we looking at in study as you get older? Well, I have only one goal, track. Like study is important. So that's a part of my goal. It comes between track. So I'm hoping to go to Oregon because that's like probably one of the best track universities that will get you up. So I'm trying to get into Oregon and study. I'm pretty sure I'll be trying to get like just having knowledge of an engineer just like my dad. But like I'm pretty sure I'm more focused on track. Yeah, track will get you there because you're going to go up there. So Nike, my friend. Over there, you know who I'm talking. I'll be calling him, keep an eye open. The next future Nike athlete, Oregon. Ryan, school, are you, where are you heading to this year?

[01:44:41;25 - 01:44:54;01]
I'm staying at the south for my last year of intermediate. Then I'll be heading over to the Wellington Join UB. Okay. For my grade nine year. Maybe you'll be in good company. Yeah, scope the land for you.

[01:44:55;07 - 01:45:36;28]
Check the girls out. (Laughter) His brother coming home. (Laughter) Give it up. Give it up. Give it up for the-- all right, boys. (Applause) She wants to, but she doesn't want to. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. She's in the witness protection program still. So he used to run. She used to run. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Don't talk about that. Of course, go ahead, come with the girl. Show off it. Tell her your kids got it from you, eh? They run your last name? Yeah. Get close. All right. So I just--

[01:45:38;02 - 01:45:43;11]
We got a do take or-- Do take. Yeah. I know, huh? Yeah. Yeah.

[01:45:44;18 - 01:45:46;14]
(Clicking) Don't worry, we're all nervous.

[01:45:48;11 - 01:45:51;29]
(Laughter) (Inaudible)

[01:45:53;29 - 01:45:59;11]
Okay. So now we have a little bit from the parents. We have Henrianna and we have Addie.

[01:46:01;14 - 01:46:05;26]
Henrianna. Track. Robert. Your girls.

[01:46:07;16 - 01:46:08;06]
What do you have to say?

[01:46:09;20 - 01:46:13;26]
You know, they're doing great as students. They're doing great as athletes.

[01:46:15;07 - 01:47:24;11]
What do you-- you know, give us some input on them as a parent on the sidelines. By the way, the game is-- Yeah? On the sidelines, I couldn't believe, you know, whether we were on the issue. And generally, we met, we went down to, uh, from the National League of the Year and the semester turned and she was like, "Do you realize where your kids are?" And I was like, "No, it's going to be with-- where are we? "What's going on?" Like, I'm still doing the program as well. Yeah. And then she explained to the Internationals about the time they turned for the country. And I was excited about that. For us, I was like, "Oh, you know." And then after seeing the girls' talent, they were all taken up on this. But you know, you are really into the program. I really saw every change and that change, you know, possibly a great one for the team. And, you know, I was like, "Oh, yeah." (Laughter) But yeah, overall, you know, I'm excited. Yeah, well, it's overall positive for them, both in their sport and academic lives.

[01:47:26;08 - 01:49:43;02]
Okay. Addy, how did, you know, what your-- You were the one who actually told me, "You can't get any closer to a gold medal." We were talking to a park in our direction. Yeah. And you said, you know, you've been to, well, soccer. And here, you know, you actually told me that, you know, this program is like the best that you could find anywhere. And obviously, it's, you know, your son is paying off. Yeah. Is he the fastest in the country right now? Yes, he's the fastest in the country, like 201, like 4800 meter. Yeah. His timing is 201.23. Yeah. And he's second fastest in the country by 400 meters with timing of 54 seconds per 48. To be honest, like, I'm blessed. It was, I will tell you the story, like, it was 17th June last year, 2025, when I met first-time coach Rob. I have some memories in, like, in 1996, they won the Olympic 4x100 gold medal. He was the starter, and he just, he relayed the foundation to winning that race, otherwise it was difficult for Canada to win that race. And to be honest, like, in 100 years, the Canada-Canadian team was the first one who defeated the US, like, after 1918 to 1996, no team in the world defeated the US. It was the Canadian team, and I am, to be honest, I am blessed that I am sitting next to this guy. And, like, as Yuvraj mentioned that I never went to see any of his school races because he was in soccer. Although I am, I was an athlete at my young age. I used to run for a long distance and 10,000 meters run, and my timing was 33 minutes, 10 seconds. So I never pressurized him. I never told Yuvraj to go for a track and field. He was in soccer, so I was enjoying his soccer. Even I work as assistant soccer coach in GSS, Greater South Bay Soccer Club. But as I mentioned, it's 17th June 2025.

[01:49:44;05 - 01:49:50;15]
I don't know from where it came, and my wife told me, "Okay, what you are doing, just go and see your lunchtime."

[01:49:51;16 - 01:50:15;12]
And I was, "Okay, let's go to Lawrence and University. It's just not five minutes drive from my office." And the coach called me, "Hello, he is your boy." "He is my boy. He is having a great time and I am Robert Asmee." Somewhere in my subconscious mind, it's Robert Asmee, but I was not sure. And to be honest, it's what Robert Asmee is going to do in Sanpur.

[01:50:16;15 - 01:50:19;24]
He loves snow.

[01:50:22;19 - 01:50:40;12]
See, I told Yuvraj and he said, "This is my card." And still that card is with me and I just framed it. To be honest, I am Yuvraj's biological father, but he is his real father because he gave him a goal of life.

[01:50:41;14 - 01:50:49;01]
He saw him as part of the Olympic gold medal. "Okay, I was there and I want to see you there."

[01:50:50;03 - 01:51:51;09]
This is the goal he gave to my son. And to be honest, it's not only about my son. It's all the track and field athletes in the club. Because you remember that I told you he is not going to settle down less than gold. He wants gold. So if my son is getting trained under the Olympic gold medalist, it is one of the last things I have ever had. When I met him in 17 June 2025, then I started reading about him. What he did not achieve in his life, he was the fastest in 16, he was the fastest in 18. Still he is having two records officially, unofficially many because there are so many things the Canadian athletics is not publishing. But if you will go to the Canadian athletics website, the Canadian record holder for you 23, he is still having records 15 meters, 16 meters.

[01:51:52;11 - 01:52:01;20]
He is one of the greatest athletes and I am blessed like my son. I saw him running 2018 to 2001, last year to this year.

[01:52:03;08 - 01:52:07;14]
Winning, it's not about winning, it's about the mindset.

[01:52:09;06 - 01:52:33;00]
One day you were telling, "Hey guys, somebody asked how you run 800 meters." Suddenly you say, "Boy, we don't run 800 meters, we sprint 800 meters." That's the mindset the coach is giving and I am lucky. I am blessed that my God bring me here in Sadhguru from Mississauga. So yeah, it's all because my son is on the right path.

[01:52:34;06 - 01:52:35;21]
A lot of bromance.

[01:52:37;16 - 01:53:47;03]
To be honest, in my life everybody is having family. See, but for me, now my family, my thinking starts from coach, thinking and from coach. Because he is the guy who is playing my role because what a father do? A father is having responsibility to take care of his son, to provide him the goal and he is doing the same thing. My role is nothing. I have to just cook the food and just give him the things. But he is the actual, he is doing everything. He is preparing in a strong mindset. He is taking care of asking for studies as well like, "Okay, what's your study?" I never asked him what percentage. He is asking, "Oh, you have to achieve 96% then only 96%." So he is doing everything for me and I am great that my son is listening in. He has to work many more things because to be honest, listening is not only the things you have to do. You have to observe the words in your body.

[01:53:48;10 - 01:54:07;03]
When I will see you that you are observing your coach's words, nobody is going to stop. Forget about one Olympic gold medal. You are going to be 10 Olympic gold medals from surgery. Yeah, I know. It is all the discipline and the mindset. I think the mindset is everything.

[01:54:08;18 - 01:54:16;27]
That is basically the overall theme. The mindset will get you to wherever you want to go regardless of where you are starting.

[01:54:19;09 - 01:54:28;10]
To be honest, if you will know about Robert Asney, when he won the Olympic gold medal, he was trained by himself only.

[01:54:29;20 - 01:54:41;00]
Yeah? There was no trainer, nothing. He was trained by himself. He got selected in the Olympic team when he was his own teacher. I am the teacher of myself.

[01:54:42;02 - 01:54:57;02]
Can you believe how much dedication, how much discipline and the mind? Because people can easily give up, "Okay, I don't have any teacher. I don't have any guardian. I don't have any mentorship. So I am not going to do this. I will fail."

[01:54:58;13 - 01:57:03;01]
He proved that there are only two athletes in the world. One is from Australia, the second one is from Canada. Without any mentorship, they want the gold medal in the Olympic team. That came after my success. Who said they can now do that? So it is like you broke a barrier. Yeah. I think at some point there is a fellow named Roger. But I am certain. The four minute mile. And before that, it was impossible. Roger broke the four minute mile. Everybody did. Because I can see it. I get that in some of my athletes they will compete in four or five different events in a day. And a lot of coaches out there, "Oh, that should never happen. That can't happen. You are burning out the kids then." And then all of a sudden, the following year, my girlfriend will tell you, "They are all over, having their kids do all of them." And a couple of them now, they are on this year's Olympic team and World Championship team because they copied what is possible. I always say if you prepare the children or the athletes properly, right? And it is not every meet. We only do that at championships, right? Because we are there to perform. They have massage therapists, have some of Canada's best physio doctors, all there in a pit crew. Our job is to keep them healthy, go through the rounds, do all you need to do to get through the rounds. Finals, we need to pop off. Boom. One out the way. Next event. Boom. Out the way. And you got to run it like that, right? That is why we are very successful in the north. We go down, you come to the cities. This year, I have invested in massage therapists, physios and all that stuff at the track. This is your track pit crew. Injury is going to happen. We can minimize those. But mentally, I have to prepare you for this moment. Your job is to go out and execute the finals. You need to jog the round. We are going to jog the round. Because you are that good enough where you can jog through the round. And just 80-90% of the final, move on to the next thing. Our job is to get to the major championship on the podium. Yeah. All the support staff. Yeah. I am just trying to put my mind to it.

[01:57:33;06 - 01:58:02;11]
(Inaudible) Eric, one thing I will highlight here. Like you probably read, okay, follow Usain Bolt, follow Noel Lyles. Everybody you can follow. But there is a live example sitting beside you.

[01:58:03;14 - 01:58:06;07]
Why you are not... Like I always tell you Raj,

[01:58:07;13 - 01:58:56;24]
probably you, that Roody's has 800 meter world record holder, Vaniyoni, 800 meter Marko Aruf, these are just far away from you. You can just watch them on TV. They are all there on TV. Yeah. This is the guy sitting beside you, eating with you, training with you, giving everything he is doing for you. Why you are not listening and absorbing his words in your body. Believe me, Eric, I am 100% sure if they are absorbed, if they are able to absorb what Coach is saying, nobody in this world can stop them to win every races. Because as I mentioned, we are not going to settle for several years. We are going to win the gold. We love gold. We are allergic to other colors than gold.

[01:58:58;11 - 01:59:30;22]
But we don't... If we have to settle for it, so be it. Consolation. But we like gold. We will... If we want silver, next year we will come and win gold. And like Aslan and I, they told you today's story that they were out of the 4DM and next year they won the gold medal. So these girls are having phenomenal things like from 12.53, 12.8 to 12.4 something and from 8.7 to 8.12. So these are the changes in a year.

[01:59:31;25 - 01:59:56;12]
And people can see, oh, it's only 0.6 seconds or 1 second. It's not 0.6 or 1 second. It's a full cycle of mind because the coach has developed their mind, changed their mind. So that's what Coach Robert is doing. Yeah, it puts in their mind so they know that they can do it. They can achieve it. It's impossible.

[02:00:00;17 - 02:01:58;15]
They're writing the right support. Well, they got the DNA from you as well, right? So, you know, one thing that I really enjoy, our season starts in September. So, which in a sense it starts on stat day, I think the 26th, we start with a workshop. No schools that day. School becomes in my house. All the athletes arrive. Lunch is provided and we start training the mind from day one. All the things that we learned, athlete, parent, myself, throughout that year is going to be going down. What are the pros? What are the cons? What did you learn? What obstacles? What are the challenges? And that's how we start, 2026, 2027, and work with some of those challenges and build them out. So when we get back to those area, we should not be going through any of those because we've learned. We've learned to take care of our body. We learned to self-care. We've learned to nutrition. We've learned everything. You've got different speakers coming in, like a symposium, to teach you different things from those Q&R that I get before the conference that we host. So that way we can address how we're going to move forward. The next piece is accountability. Like everyone last year, the theme was "Be the cause." Ownership, right? Of your own business. So their track is their own thing. You need to take ownership of it. We will give you all the tools, but you need to take ownership of all the things we give you in your toolbox. You've got to do your sleep. Shut the social media down. Your phone. You've got to get deep sleep. You've got to hydrate. You've got to pack your bags. Your parents shouldn't be telling you, "Hurry up," or nonsense. Your stuff should be ready. You have your track bag. You have your school bag. They're ready to go. Our job is to get you there hopefully on time and back. Your job is to do your part. Take ownership. We're doing our part. Don't slack over there, right? What did you do? How many pull-ups did you do today? How many sit-ups were you supposed to do today? Did you do them? You just left money on the table and personal bets on the table, right?

[02:02:00;21 - 02:02:31;16]
We'll hold them accountable. You're slacking. Why are we being lazy? It's a choice you just made, right? You're making those choices. You're choosing to, "Okay, I'm going to wear Adidas shoes today," right? Or the flip-flop that's not good for your feet instead of wearing your proper runners. I said it's going to cost you. Hopefully it doesn't cost you at the wrong time. It costs him at the wrong time with them little flip-flops. But we told him for like over six months, "Get rid of those flip-flops. It's not going to work for you." Right, Yuraj?

[02:02:32;26 - 02:02:38;02]
It costs you the biggest meet of the year to go on the two minutes, right? Of that dream and that goal.

[02:02:39;05 - 02:03:28;29]
And he got hurt running in his flip-flop. Once again, I see visions and I see things and you give them the advice and the tools. It's up to them to take ownership and move with that. So going into this year, what September do you think is going to come on his first list? Get rid of my flip-flops around the track. I can leave my flip-flops in the house. That's where it's designed, right? I need to pre-wear proper running shoes for different sports, different activity, different shoes. Let's be safe because there's a cost to not preparing yourself. That's what I told you. Absorb. He's listening and absorbing us to different things. Tell him, Adi. Come on, my bestie. Go ahead. Because if you can listen, it's okay. Listening from this way and passing from this way, nothing. You have to absorb the words. You have to absorb the same energy.

[02:03:30;04 - 02:04:05;23]
I believe on my coach that he can do anything. Then you should believe on him, himself and yourself as well. He's giving you 100%. Then what he's asking from you? 100%. That's it. In other words, our theme should be listen and absorb for 2026. Maybe ears and heart and the body. Let it go through the body. We designed a new outfit for that. Listening and absorb. That's all we want. Keep it simple. Listen and absorb for the big impact. Write that down.

[02:04:07;03 - 02:04:08;07]
It's never too late.

[02:04:09;27 - 02:04:53;24]
Never too late. And you're never too young. I started age five. My coach wanted me to run 400 metres and I started running. After 25 years, I started running. I started running 400 metres this year. Three metres I run. I run 400 metres in the first run was 71.37. And the last 69.49 seconds. So I am under 72nd for 400 metres. So this year my target is indoor. I will finish it in 65 seconds. I am going to do that. And you lost weight too. You've got a better body than I am. I am trying to hide my camera up here.

[02:04:54;27 - 02:05:06;03]
I lost 14 pounds weight in four or five months. I started after they returned from Jamaica in March. They were in Jamaica in February 16 to 22. And during the weather, he got jealous.

[02:05:07;27 - 02:05:10;07]
I was not there but this year I did.

[02:05:12;08 - 02:05:22;15]
It almost makes me want to start as well. 400 metres under 72nd. There you go. Masters relay team. Right here. Two members right here.

[02:05:24;05 - 02:05:26;08]
She's going to start with a race walk.

[02:05:27;10 - 02:05:35;09]
There's 18 events. She's going to start a race walk. There's an event for everyone. I actually threw this year for the first time.

[02:05:36;17 - 02:06:59;10]
I competed as an athlete for the first time in over 30 years. So one of my athletes, we're trying to have him qualify for the World Juniors. And we need enough bodies in the event. Once again, I have to be there for my athletes. So I registered to make sure we have enough people. And I actually competed. My goal was to throw over 20. And I got 22. So I'm in the record book as a master blaster. The big guns. The legs not working right now. So I worked out my body. So I learned a lesson that I gave to my son. We do other events when you're not having success in certain ones. And that's what I did. Track is not going to be running stuff. It's not going to be successful for me. But I definitely have a right arm. So I put it to use and I'm 22 seconds on the board. And then next year, hopefully we go 30 metres. And hopefully I can start beating my son and throwing. Yeah, one thing you noticed, Eric, that what coach is doing for his athletes, like nobody was like, swing for the U20 World Cup World Juniors. He is the one after 30 years, he come up in front. Okay, I will do for you. This is the actually because as a dad, I can't do it. I cannot throw. But he throw for Anderson. He participated in the league for Anderson after 30 years. What else you want?

[02:07:00;18 - 02:08:02;03]
A coach is giving everything to you. He is giving you mentally things. He is giving you, training you like he's giving everything. And sometimes when needed, he is a completer for you as well. So that's the rubber does. Steps in where? Yeah, yeah. Give him my heart and they love me. You can't ask for any more. Yeah. So yes, folks, if you're five years old and above, you can come see me. I have the oldest athletes, I think is the A78 from North Bay. Master Blaster, where is Jamaican gear representing us? It's the second fastest under 75 in the province. And we've got a couple of Masters in the making. So hopefully you never know next year, I'll be at the Masters game with my Master athletes. We're mixing it up as coach and athlete together. And maybe I'll have the first beer for the first time. I wonder if they have any good beer in Sudbury. Northern Light beer. Maybe I should own my own beer company too, no?

[02:08:51;24 - 02:08:58;22]
You have to have an average of 96 in there? 80, minimum. 80. Yeah, so we need an A. You'll see 96 in the pool. Yeah, yeah.

[02:09:00;26 - 02:09:23;06]
But if you're doing certain programs, you need certain, like engineers usually 90, 96 to get into that program, because now you're dealing with numbers. You've got six schools. How many are allowing that program? And then there's the cutoff, like even in track. You need a D1. You have a certain distance, a certain time to be considered.

[02:09:24;07 - 02:11:20;24]
It's similar in the education aspect, right? Everybody wants that seat, but there's only limited in the amount of seats. And then the brain book guys said, well, I should be getting it, because I don't do anything but study 24-7. But now you come in and you might be not 96, but you might be 94. But you've got a personality that can elevate the school to the next level than just being in a regular thing, right? So that's the things that differentiate between them and those guys, where they can speak, they're marketable, they're packageable. You can sell more than just the education. You can sell everything for the university, right? So they will get first in if it's close, right? Because we had a lot of challenges. I think one guy was only in the 80s, 86. He couldn't get in the program. But I said, don't worry about it. It'll make some calls and we move some things around. And with that, right, he was able to get into a school that's still value all around, not just the book piece, right? And I think they've got a great ambassador. And it turned out it was probably one of the best school I've thought for him to end up going without the other schools, because they've got everything to balance his personality, the right coaches in place, and the right education piece and process. So it worked out great for him, right? Just be patient. It's not every school for everybody. It's not every coach for everyone. You have to balance out the right temperature of personalities, too, right? Yeah, it's much better to have an overall package like you said. Yeah. I took computer science. And I was the one who asked the teacher, why do you have to take all these other classes? And he said, you ever talk to a computer-- just imagine the geek in his parents' basement never comes out to see light. You ever try to have a conversation with that person? You can't, because it's like a beaker from the Muppet Show.

[02:11:22;02 - 02:13:51;14]
I mean, for these athletes, why do I have to do jumps? Why do I have to do throws? I said, you not have to be good. But if you're looking at a D1 or higher, it makes your package a lot much better, especially a female, to do a field event. Throws. There's so much money on the tables for throws that they can dip in and say, you know what? We know you can fill in here. And especially down in the U, it's all about points and numbers, right? So unless you're super dominant, so like, Molina does one, two, and you hit those marks, great. But if you're good here, at least one, you need to balance out the next. And if you-- oh, you've got field events. Oh, you're in before the other athletes, because there's so many lack of area to create points in that area. You said D1. Yeah. Division 1 for the United States, that's the number one. So you've got Ivy League, which is probably like Yale, Harvard, et cetera. They don't-- they'll set an athletic standard, but it's more in the academic piece. So that's the Ivy League. Then D1, such as USCs, Cali, Florida, right? Division 1 schools. Division 1 schools, they'll give you athletic and academic. And then you've got Division 2. It's not as high performance. You might concentrate on the academic, but they want to do both. They don't have that funding to be able to do both. So for us, we try to get the Division 1, our Ivy League. So we carry the 96. You don't have to necessarily go USC. You can go Yale for what you want to study, but you've got the athletic piece, which is a no-brainer. My D1 guys, who wants to go D1, if we can have a 96, we can go in and get athletic and make it up with the academic and then remove ourself off the athletic by year two to free up the money for those guys and get all academic scholarship for the rest of the thing. So it saved the school money at the end of the day by freeing that up. And once you get the full-ride academic only, you don't have to worry about your athletic piece. Is there any Canadian schools where you can get better the equivalent of an American school? In Canada, only U-Sport. The only one that will give you sort of a division, NIA, Division 3, I believe, SFU and UBC, that you can compete in both Canada and U.S. Those are the only two schools, I think. In Canada, you can do both.

[02:13:52;20 - 02:15:02;26]
Canada, U.S. Competition. Usually, here in Canada, they finish their season by March, so they'll do cross-country and indoors only. And for their academic scholarship, it's $4,500 max. So everything you have to do is academic scholarship bursaries and stuff to top up your $4,500 athletic scholarship. So it's limited. So I've had a student who stayed in Canada or chooses to stay in Canada with all the bursaries, scholarships, and the stuff, they'll finish with like $80,000, $100,000. But you're going to have to do the paperwork and the essays to be able to get a lot of that money in. If not, you'll be spending a lot of money OSAP or your parents paying for it. Yeah. All right? I don't believe in paying for a lot of those stuff. We'll pay for high school, but it's your job to take yourself, hold yourself accountable and get some of that college money and those university money. So there's a lot more, but it sounds like there's a lot more money in the states that's available. Huge, huge for athletics. And now, they've changed the playing field, and I needed a project to take over now. So when we're not doing track, I'm going to revolutionize the flag world.

[02:15:04;09 - 02:15:27;04]
So nobody want to play us here in Sudbury because here I'm going to give them a shutout, but it's okay because you're all chicken and scared and don't like competition. But majority of the young ladies that I work with, they play flag for the school. Is that football? Yeah. So we're looking to rebrand them for this year. Track and flag.

[02:15:28;16 - 02:15:47;03]
One of the reasons why is there's billions of-- actually, I think trillions of dollars just open up for flag. Every university needs flag athletes for their program because of the 2028 Olympics. Flag is there. NFL is also partnered up. Let's build in a flag stadium for flag only.

[02:15:48;07 - 02:16:25;01]
In the US, I think they're going to build something maybe in Toronto or it's-- right now, the one that they're building is going to be mobile if they need to bring it to other cities. But it's a massive money involved in flag. So right now, what they're having their experience and the speed combination, right, the team that I'm going to construct in my head at the moment that I was trying to put on paper, I feel they're probably one of the best in the country. And there's a plan. When we're not doing track that weekend, we'll fly to Florida. We'll fly to different areas and we'll go compete. We're not going to win the world title. I think with the raw base that we have,

[02:16:26;07 - 02:16:46;26]
say these two girls, Annabelle, Rowan, and a few of those girls, collectively, when you put them on paper, they're amongst the top 10, top 15 in the province for track. You put that on the track on the field with the right coaching system and open that up. I can't see anybody touch them.