That horrific massacre set off a flurry of activity designed to improve safety in schools and prevent future tragedy.  Metal detectors, uniformed security officers and other measures were put into place nationwide.

On February 27^th of this year another young man opened fire at Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio and left two students dead and three others wounded. He is currently in police custody.

In thinking and reading about these two situations it seems that in both cases the shooters were troubled teens who acted out of some sense of avenging past hurts.  The Columbine shooters were allegedly bullied by other students before becoming bullies themselves.  They convinced a friend to help them get the weapons they used in the shootings.

It seems to me that maybe we need to focus more on identifying potential issues with our young people before they get to the point where metal detectors and uniform security officers are involved.

According to several news articles I’ve read and watched the young man who allegedly did the shooting in Chardon (T.J. Lane) was in an alternate school for “at-risk” or troubled students.  His grades were said to be very good.  But some say he was also a target for bullies.

T.J’s parents are divorced and he has been living with his grandmother.  His father allegedly has a history of arrests for everything from attempted murder to violence against women.  T.J. wrote a long “rant” on his Facebook page last New Year’s Eve with very violent overtones that has since been deleted but was captured as a screenshot and shown in an article about the shooting on the Huffington Post website.

His final words in this rant were “Die all of you.”

Shouldn’t that have set off alarm bells with anyone who read it?

Given what we seem to know of his environment and background, is it any wonder that young T.J.’s view of the world would be filled with anger, rage and low self-esteem?

The truth is I don’t really know what other actions people around this young man may have been taking (besides putting him in an alternate school) to help him change his worldview and become more positive and productive prior to the shooting.

It just makes me wonder what each of us as individuals could do differently going forward that might help us be alert to these potential volcanoes before they erupt.

There is no way we can know everything about everyone all the time (though it seems some who are in power would like to believe it should be that way) but maybe we should be paying more focused and serious attention to teens that act or speak aggressively or use language that clearly shows violent thought patterns.

One person bullying another is never OK.   Parents of kids who are bullies need to take swift and decisive actions to stop that behavior instead of ignoring it.  I believe that parents who know their kids are bullying others and don’t do everything in their power to immediately stop it should be held as much responsible for their child’s behavior as the child is.

Those in leadership positions in schools and other areas of a teenagers life should also adopt a more proactive mindset when incidents occur or they see or hear things that may indicate trouble ahead.

All of us who live in the world can use our voices, positions and influences to be more aware and spread the right message to our young people about bullying.  We can all become change agents within our own families and communities.

It’s what we have to do if we’re going to prevent history from continuing to repeat itself.  We need to work together.  The next young child to be innocently hurt or killed could be our own.

Former Heisman Trophy winner and national championship quarterback Tim Tebow became a star in Denver this season long before he came off the bench and led the Broncos to the NFL Playoffs after the team got off to a 1-4 start under Kyle Orton.

What do these two personalities and their recent life situations have in common?  I believe they are both strong examples that character matters.

Character can be defined as courage.  While some would argue that Tebow should tone down his displays of Christian faith on Sundays, others feel that he is a long overdue breath of fresh, honest air.  Either way, he is a leader among his Bronco teammates and a motivator on the practice field and in the game each week.  He displays tremendous character and a work ethic that has made him a role model for all ages worldwide.

Conversely, after mechanical problems with his car put him out of the season’s final race before the checkered flag flew, Busch made an inappropriate gesture to someone as he steered through the garage area.  Then he was caught on video lashing out at ESPN TV Reporter Dr. Jerry Punch in an obscenity-laced tirade about how long the network was making him wait for an interview.

What followed for Kurt was a Tiger Woods-like backlash from corporations providing sponsorship to NASCAR teams.  He was a desired candidate to replace A.J. Allmendinger in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43, but Petty recently said that they couldn’t pull the trigger because they couldn’t get a company to provide funding for the car to race if he was going to be the driver.

This article  isn’t about faith.  It isn’t about winning or losing or the ability to complete a pass or win a race.  It’s about one athlete who models leadership, a positive attitude and a desire to put others first versus another who was trading those character qualities for a more negative, self-centered (and self-destructive) approach.

It is not my intent to judge Kurt Busch here.  I always hold true to the belief that anyone is capable of positive change no matter what their past and I will be praying for and hoping for the best for Kurt as he attempts to rebuild his image driving for Phoenix Racing in the ‘Cup series and will be doing some racing  for his brother Kyle  in the Nationwide Series as well.  He’s had to swallow hard and take a step back but so far he seems determined (at least publicly) to be positive about it.

Tim Tebow may or may not be the starting quarterback for Denver in 2012.  He likely believes he’s at least earned the right to go into this summer’s training camp as the starter and I would most definitely agree.  But if he is asked to take the same kind of a step back that Kurt Busch has had to and let someone else take over while he continues to learn, you can be sure Tim will accept that decision with grace and a positive attitude.

You can also be sure Tebow’s popularity will hardly wane while he’s finishing his “education”.  Why?  Because Tim Tebow is loved just as much for his character and work ethic as he is for his results.

It could be said that failures of character cost Kurt Busch a championship-caliber ride twice in fact, as he was also let go by Roush Racing several years ago after an off-track incident at the end of that season.

Kurt is now in a situation where there may be more pressure on him to improve his performance personally than professionally.  I hope he can unleash the winner inside of him and motivate his Phoenix Racing teammates as much with a positive attitude and spirit as he does with his able right foot and elevate the team to unprecedented success.

In either case, I think the  life lesson here is that character matters.

If so, you’re not alone.

The good news is that there may be some steps you can take to enhance your marketability that don’t cost a lot of money.

Coach Tom

These steps will require time and that you be open to improvements in your approach, your presentation, and your personal appearance and communications skills.

First, let’s understand clearly that when a company gives you money and forms a marketing partnership with you or your race team this is a business transaction and not a donation.  That’s why I don’t like to use the word “sponsorship”.  It sounds too much like sponsoring someone for 2 cents a pin to bowl for cancer relief.

You become a marketing “tool” for the company and they expect you to spend serious time introducing people at and away from the track to their product or service and helping to get them new business.  It’s about what you can do for them.

While it is true that your “tools” (car, transporter, driver suit, etc.) all have value to the marketing partner for logo placement and promotion, those are not the only tools that you need in order to bring the check to your bank account.

Wins and championships aren’t the key ingredient either.  At the short-track level, there are many successful drivers who don’t have sponsors because although they’ve dominated their class or region, so that’s also not enough.

At the grassroots level of our sport, the easiest way to make a potential marketing partner excited about an association with you is to be active out in your community with the car doing meet and greets, signing autographs and putting yourself in a position to interact with as many people as possible and get them excited about the products or services your marketing partners provide.

It is also critical in today’s internet world to have a strong online presence.  A clean, easy-to-navigate website that is updated regularly is the minimum that should be expected.  Understanding how to “brand” yourself professionally on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In is also necessary because those sites let you build a network of “fans” that can be used to interact with and promote the companies that become your marketing partners.

It’s not enough anymore to have a clean race car and look nice at the track and win races.  It’s all about giving a marketing partner a unique promotional program that is exciting and will bring them exposure to an audience they likely wouldn’t otherwise reach.

If your sponsor materials need a tune-up and you need some personal coaching on how to improve your marketability, don’t waste time.  Packages start at just $295 and are available at that price for a limited time only.  Call Team Full Throttle at 704-464-6907 or email askcoachtom@carolina.rr.com today!

This would all take place on Christmas Eve.   Later it would be off to bed because bright and early the next morning (usually 6am) we’d be right back up to open the gifts that had appeared under the tree.

Now, my cousins next door used to open their gifts on Christmas Eve and I decided one year that this idea would work well in the Baker house, too.  So I plotted to convince my parents to go along with it.  I woke up at 1:45am on Christmas Day morning, went into the bathroom and set my watch ahead to 6am.  Then I went in and woke up my parents and showed them the time.

Looking back across the years and reflecting on this dastardly plot I have no idea why they didn’t look at the clock radio in their bedroom, because had they done this, my plan would have been foiled.  I do remember my Dad saying “Already?  It seems like we just got to bed!”

But downstairs we went (my brother was still sleeping!) and I got two or three gifts opened before my father looked at his watch and saw the real time.  He and my mom exchanged looks and just smiled and shook their heads.  They let me finish the job before we went back to bed.  One year later, we were opening our gifts on Christmas Eve.

Mission accomplished!

As I got older though, and life’s natural cycle started reducing the size of our family (we’ve now lost everyone on my father’s side including my dad and a whole generation on my mom’s side), the annual Christmas Eve dinner party began shrinking from a bustling house full of adults (and my brother and me), to a much smaller and more intimate gathering.

That’s when I realized the true meaning and spirit of Christmas.  The day is still special in its own way, but it’s not the same.  I miss the controlled chaos of all the people being around the house, talking and sharing the day with each other. The memories are priceless though.

I have learned from that to never take people in my life for granted and to appreciate giving much more than receiving.

When you’re young, you just assume your family and friends are always going to be a part of your life.  As time goes on and reality sets in, you start to understand how important it is to spend as much time with those you love as possible and to always remind them of how you feel about them because you never know how long you’re going to have them around.

Christmas time for me now carries a much deeper meaning.  I have taken some major steps in my spiritual walk over the past couple of years, rededicating my life to Jesus Christ and being baptized in my Christian church.

I have always understood the true meaning of the day to the extent that my Catholic upbringing instilled in me and I have always loved the old hymns of faith more than the “Santa songs”.  I will treasure the memories of My Dad and I listening and singing to Connie Francis’ Christmas album when I was young.  I am moved to this day by the choir in the background and her amazing voice.

I still have that on CD, and it brings me back to the old days of snow coming down outside my house and all the decorations we had being lit.  I now enjoy many of the more contemporary singers and Christmas songs and I really enjoy hearing our worship band at church as they lead us each and every Sunday.

This year though, I believe my heart, soul, and mind are more right with what December 25^th signifies than ever, and I am humbled daily by God’s power and his love for us.  The pastors and my church family at Christ Community Church mean everything to me, and my eyes have been truly opened to the awesome wonder of the journey that God takes us on if we simply believe and activate our faith on a daily basis.

I thank God every day for his blessings, and for the lessons he teaches me through my trials and tough times in life.  I thank him for my family and for my church family.  I thank him for giving me the talents and skills to make a difference for others and put a smile on their faces.

I thank him for the opportunities to help others throughout the year, especially at Christmas time.  It’s hard to put into the words the feeling that I get knowing I’ve given someone else the chance to feel as loved and blessed as I do in this time of joy and celebration.

Material things mean little without people in your life who love and care about you.  You will be judged not on what you have, but on who you are and what you’ve done in service to others…in service to God.

I have a long way still to go in the growth of my faith, but I will take that journey one day at a time, one step at a time.

O Holy Night!  The stars are brightly shining!  It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Austin Chalman

Did I mention that he is just nine years old?

Currently residing in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Austin may have set the tone for his future with the first words he spoke at age three…”Dale Earnhardt Junior”. Now he’s been called champion in quarter-midgets, go-karts, and mini-cup cars, racing throughout Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming for the most part.

“I like all three types of cars the same, but for different reasons,” Austin says. “The quarter-midget because it was the first thing I raced, the go-kart because it got me some experience on a road course, and the mini-cup because it’s as fast as the go-kart but on a bigger oval track that’s banked.” It was apparent that he adapts quickly as well, because he won his first seven races of the year at Big Country Speedway in Cheyenne this year (his rookie year of mini cup racing) before he had an “off week”.

As I spent time with Austin and his father Dave in Cheyenne recently, it was obvious that this young racer had a passion for his craft, and that he understood that it was not going to be easy for him to climb to the top of the racing ladder. Still, he stays focused on his goal, despite also sharing an equal passion (and equally strong ability) to play football, where he excels at linebacker, running back, and wide receiver.

When he was six, he wanted to be a formula one racer. Now, he has his sites set on NASCAR, and a shot at a Sprint Cup Championship someday.  His father Dave says he’ll do all he can to help his son achieve his dreams in whatever sport he chooses.  “You see so many kids whose parents just force them into something and burn them out at a young age,” Dave said.  “I don’t want to be that parent for Austin.  He loves racing and he loves football.  I’m happy he’s doing both.  We’re doing all we can on the racing side for him, but it’s tough because he seems to have exceptional ability in a car but there aren’t a lot of choices in this area for a ten-year-old to run.  He just handles everything we put him in so easily and adapts so quickly.  I’m as proud as a father could be of his son.  He’s an “A” student in school and works hard at his sports.  He’s a good kid.”

One thing’s for sure.  Whatever sport Austin Chalman is doing at a given moment, he’s 100 percent folded into being the best at it.  That’s a pretty good starting quality for a nine-year-old who wants to climb to the top of one of sports’ most challenging mountains!

Thank you for this day and for being there for us.  You tell us never to tremble or be afraid, for you are always with us and will never forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6).  We love you for the way you care for us, and we know that you have a plan for each of us in this life.

Coach Tom

But Lord, all of us in the motorsports community are grieving today.  Our hearts are hurting.  We are all trying to understand what happened at Las Vegas on Sunday, why it happened, and we are struggling to grapple with the loss of our racing brother Dan Wheldon.

Lord, we ask for your help as we sort through all of our anger, frustration, and sadness.  We ask you to help us to be able to focus on what we can do to support the Wheldon family, the Indy Car community, and each other.

Help us to avoid the human tendency to rush to judgment about why this happened, or what could have or should have been done differently to avoid it.  Let us leave those judgments to those whom you have blessed with the wisdom and experience to make them.

Help us instead, to look to you for strength and guidance as we move forward in our lives and our racing careers, and to learn from the example Dan set for us with his positive attitude, passionate enthusiasm, and undying spirit and love for his family, his sport, and his life.

We pray, Lord, that you will help us glorify your name in everything we do, and to remember that it is your will and not ours that should be done.  We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

All over the world, the motorsports community is in a state of shock, mourning, and numbness.  I’m sure many are doing as I am, seeking the strength of our Lord to guide us and help us in this time. It is never easy to understand why things happen the way they do in life, but having the faith that our God is in control even in the worst of times becomes a source of strength and a lifeline to help us get through the pain.

The truth is, racing is a dangerous sport.  Every driver who straps into any type of vehicle with the intent of racing on any surface anywhere runs the risk of crashing, and with that risk comes the potential of serious injury, or perhaps even death.  It’s always the “white elephant” in the room that none of us like to talk about, but all of us who are involved in the sport know it’s there.

Racers put a camouflage cover over the white elephant and go chase checkered flags in much the same way as journalists venturing into hostile territories to cover news, specialists trained in high-voltage power lines standing high in bucket trucks to restore power, firefighters charging into a burning building, or police responding to cracks of gunfire have to do.  They take every precaution they can to minimize the risk, set the fear aside and go do the job.

Over the last 20 years or so I believe our sport has become much better at learning from tragedy and using it to make improvements in safety at all levels.

We did it in the 80′s when several deaths in short-track modified cars led to the determination that the cars were built too rigid causing drivers to absorb too much of the impact from a crash.  We did it after Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001 with improvements in crash barriers, drivers seats, and seat belt technology.  I have great faith that those in the know will find a way to do it again, beginning today.

It seems almost eerily ironic that Dan Wheldon spent much of this year assisting a team of people working on the new Indy Car design for 2012, a car that is supposed to be somewhat safer than the current one.  After winning the Indy 500 for a second time, he spent much of the rest of the last year of his life using his God-given talents and life’s experience to help create a better, and perhaps safer car for future Indy Car racers.

Then he drove off into glory, and the angels took him home. (Charlie Daniels – High Speed Heroes).

Pausing to think about that quote for a moment, I realized this applies to any profession, not just boxing. It really applies

Coach Tom

to life as a whole.  Think about it… the mental and physical act of teaching your body and mind to do something successfully is just that – it is developing proper learning technique.  The difference between being good at something and being the best comes down to how you see yourself in relation to what you’re doing.

I was at a race track some time ago coaching at a test session with one of our Team Full Throttle racers when a touring series late model racer pulled in to do some testing of his own. The first thing the race team did when they rolled the car out of the hauler is change the rear end.

I thought, “Didn’t they know they had to do that before they left the shop?”  Obviously you should always come to the track prepared to test or race at your highest level. They wasted nearly an hour of their available track time doing work that could have already been done before they left home.

That racer was not operating in the mindset of someone who has the goal of being “in the race” and becoming a champion. That’s the mindset of someone whose goal is being “at the race” and just making laps.

You have to treat your racing as a business. You need to prepare to be the best before you can actually be the best. That means going the extra mile to not only prepare the race car, but to prepare yourself as well.  Think ahead. Know where your weaknesses are and seek the proper help to overcome them.

The difference between being average and being the best comes down to having a plan. Make a decision to maximize your potential and then have the discipline to make it a part of your daily existence.  Tiger Woods’ former Golf instructor, John Encelmo, once commented about Tiger, “He had what I call inner talent. He started practicing every night at a very young age and just kept doing it for years. He wanted to achieve something.”  That’s the discipline I’m talking about.

Being physically fit is understood by most high-level racers to be critical. You have to work out regularly and put the right “fuel” (food and drink) into your body on a daily basis. But fewer racers think about being mentally and emotionally fit.

If you have not taken the time to learn the proper fundamentals and technique for practicing and learning a new track, for example, you won’t be mentally prepared to be successful in a touring series. You only get a limited amount of practice time at each race in many series, so you have to have a system to get up to speed quickly but smoothly and be able to communicate the right adjustments to your crew in order to be successful.

That system is not instinctive. It’s a learned skill.

If you find yourself getting frustrated when things don’t go as well as you expected, you probably won’t get past the level you’re at now. You have to adjust your emotion detector to “neutral” if you want to perform your best on race day.

Winning a race or a points title will not in and of itself make you a champion. Thinking and preparing like a champion is what allows you to have the mental, physical, and emotional competence to win those races and points titles and be successful at the highest levels for the longest period of time.

Champions are built from the inside out.

ABOUT COACH TOM:

Tom’s non-judgmental and patient approach to coaching helps him to develop the type of long-term relationships that are necessary for championship results in both teenagers and adults in personal and professional environments.

“Coach Tom” (Tom Baker) is a full-time coach/trainer/communications expert, passionately lending his God-given talents and expertise to clients in several industries across the United States and Canada through his company Team Full Throttle.

If you’d like Tom’s help in becoming a champion in your professional and personal life, you can reach him via email at AskCoachTom@yahoo.com.

People ask me all the time what I actually do for my clients.  It seems a bit mysterious, but it really is simple.  As a performance coach, I show people like Trey learn how to get better results at what they do.

Coach Tom

Weather I am coaching a small business owner wanting to improve his time management and decision-making,  a high school wrestler wanting to develop the right counter-moves,  or a racer wanting to increase speed and improve passing technique, the common workspace we are playing in is the client’s mind.

We learn by building “programs” – repeating an activity mentally or physically enough times to make it a habit.  Learning to do something without the proper coaching and guidance can build bad habits from the get-go and hinder your progress.  Coaches can show you how to do it right the first time.

If you consider racers to be athletes, then you would understand that athletes benefit from coaches to help them develop the correct techniques to utilize the skills they have.

You wouldn’t send your young football player into a game without the proper coaching on fundamental things like tackling, blocking, or throwing the football, would you?

So why would you send your racer on the track (to go over 100mph in some cases) without proper training on how to master and control their car and reduce driver error that leads to crashes and possible injuries?

Here are three ways a performance coach like me can help your racer…

1 – Improve their fundamentals so that good habits are built from the very beginning and improvement is continuous.

2 – Show them how to really learn from their mistakes and not repeat them, and to hold them accountable for completing the steps necessary to achieve their goals and maximize their (or your) investment in the sport.

Coaching Racer Trey Jarrell

3 – To increase their confidence by developing superior processes for learning, overcoming limiting beliefs, and visualizing outcomes so they start seeing improved performance and better results on the track, in the classroom, and in their relationships with family, peers, and professional colleagues.

Here is a bonus reason that I will give you based upon my own past experience, training, and successes…

4 – If you or your racer are going to need funding to support the racing, I can help develop the proper attitude, speaking and selling skills, appearance, and marketing techniques you will need as you present yourself to prospective companies.

When is the best time to hire a performance coach?  The moment you decide you want to take your performance to the next level!

Email me today and let’s talk!

” Tom is more than just a coach. He has been there for me during times of stress when I’ve thought the only option I had was failure.  He coached me through the process of preaching my first sermon in my youth group at church, giving me valuable advice about speaking techniques, managing my time, and challenging me to improve in a positive way.  He is an awesome mentor.” – Client Dalton Reynolds.

ABOUT COACH TOM:

Tom’s non-judgmental and patient approach to coaching helps him to develop the type of long-term relationships that are necessary for the best results in both teenagers and adults in personal and professional environments.

“Coach Tom” (Tom Baker) is a full-time coach/trainer/communications expert, passionately lending his God-given talents and expertise to clients in several industries across the United States and Canada through his company Team Full Throttle.

Tom can be reached via email at AskCoachTom@yahoo.com

I am blessed to have the opportunity to share my years of experience as a performance coach with young racers and athletes in other sports.  In my work I come across a wide variety of different types of parental involvement in these activities.

I believe parents generally do a fine job of guiding and instructing their children when they fill the role of “coach” in addition to “parent” in sport.  I admire their efforts, and I know it can be very difficult to straddle the invisible line between the two roles.   It requires “kid gloves” to handle with care.

But sometimes I think they forget that it’s their child’s dream, not theirs.

Even as a coach and mentor, I have to constantly monitor my emotion detector, because there are so many times in sport when you feel like your athlete has been wronged, either by another competitor or an official, and you want to “react” in some sort of way.

WARNING! Your athlete is watching your reaction, and it is very likely they will model it.

Since we know it’s not OK to use foul language, verbal, or physical abuse to people in real life, why would any of us think it’s OK in sport?  It’s not OK, it’s poor sportsmanship – and we need to remind ourselves of that every time we hit the gym, field, or track. It’s also important for parents to keep in mind that sometimes it can be their child’s fault, so it’s critical to not only be objective, but to allow the child to play the lead role in resolving conflicts when they arise.  This gives them confidence in themselves and builds a skill set they can use throughout their lives.

On the other hand, I also see parents try to use the power of positive thinking with their athletes all the time.  I like seeing that, because it’s much better to build someone up than it is to tear them down.  But it’s very important when teaching a child how or what to think to also teach them the skills they need to actually back up their attitude. Otherwise, the result can still end up being negative. 

For example, if you’re going to explain to your young athlete that they should always think and believe they are going to win, then you need to also explain to them that they shouldn’t evaluate the success or failure of their day on whether or not they won, because there are so many circumstances that have to fall into place just right in order for that win to happen.

Many of those circumstances are beyond their control, and they can easily develop a negative perspective of their abilities if they isn’t able to live up to the beliefs and results-driven expectations instilled in them.

An experienced performance coach or mentor will understand how to combine “realistic thinking” with “positive thinking” in just the right chemistry for the situation and the individual.  Believe in yourself, but set realistic goals, and don’t forget to work on the right things everyday  to help you achieve those goals.

I’ve seen athletes who excel in their sport at one level move to the next level and struggle to stay on top.  Meanwhile the parents are still giving them the same “focus on winning” advice.

I’d suggest focusing instead on what changes or modifications to their technique or skill set need to be made in order for them to be successful in this new environment.

See the difference?

Positive thinking without focused, specific instruction on skills and techniques can result in burnout and frustration. This is where an experienced performance coach or mentor who can deal individually with your athlete can be so valuable.

When I work with  an athlete, I focus first on making sure they have a process for learning, because I know that without that process, they won’t retain any type of detailed instruction on skill set with any consistency.  Then I keep their mind on the basics, and help them to visualize the things they need to do in order to improve.

I don’t need to excel at their sport or profession.  I just need to understand how to teach them to do that.  And that process never ends, because as long as there are higher levels of success to achieve, the athlete needs to keep learning.

Parents – please sit down and give some thought to the type of encouragement and instruction that you will be giving to your young athletes, and how you are going to model that for them.    If you’re going to hire a performance coach or mentor, make sure you stay on the same page with that person in terms of not just what you say to your child, but how you say it.

After all, communication is a key to success, but it can also be a key to failure if it isn’t well thought-out and based upon a definitive process for skills development.

About Coach Tom   

Tom Baker is a performance coach and communications specialist who owns and operates a communications and development company called Team Full Throttle.
Team Full Throttle (TFT) has been successfully providing expert performance coaching, media, and communications services for individuals and businesses for over 20 years. Currently, TFT’s client list serves the U.S. and Canada.

Individual and small business coaching, youth coaching, performance coaching, freelance writing, blogging, media and PR coaching, website development and maintenance, individual and company bios, and voice talent work are all a part of TFT’s menu of services.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., Team Full Throttle’s motorsports division has been improving racers’ on-track and off-track performance with coaching and public relations services for racers at every level. The organization had over 60 feature wins and multiple championships to its credit in 2010.

Every single human being who has, is, or will inhabit God’s earth was entrusted to a mother.  Isn’t that incredible?  Until Pastor Jack pointed that out to us during an emotional, heartfelt mother’s day service, I hadn’t ever really thought of it that way.

Coach Tom

I have the world’s most awesome mother.  I am not ashamed to say that because it’s true.

My mother was reading books and playing games and teaching me nursery rhymes from the time I was old enough to remember.  Thanks to her my reading skills were so far ahead of my age that when I started Kindergarten the teacher didn’t have enough reading work in class to keep me challenged.  Thank you mom!

My mother agreed to go on her first date with my father – an auto race at the hometown Oswego Speedway – and they took me there for the first time at age 5 (1973).  Now I make a large part of my living coaching, promoting, and mentoring young racers in the south.  My passion born at five years old has become my avocation.     Thank you mom!

My mother stayed at home with my younger brother and me to make sure we were nurtured and loved and had a parent with us all day while our dad worked, until we were both in school full-time.  Then she went to work at our school (some kids would say this was bad, but it turned out to be a blessing in many ways for her and for us).  Thank you mom.

My mother retired from school after my father began having heart issues, and she stood by him, spent time together with him, and took care of him (and us) until he went to be with our Lord on Thanksgiving weekend of 1999.  She was always strong and vigilant, ever the caregiver.   Thank you mom.

My mother didn’t stop caring for others after my father died, she just shifted the focus of it.  She had always been active in our school system, serving over 20 years in PTA’s and on committees.  Needing something now to provide her a purpose and fill the free time she now had, she made a decision to shift her focus of caring to the students of our school district.  She ran for the school board, and won.

My mother served our community and its students for the next three years at a time when there was a lot of  division and tension among the board’s members.  She stood proudly for her values in the face of attack and never let anyone get in the way of her doing the right thing.  Thank you mom.

My mother decided not to serve on the board again, but she didn’t stop serving the Lord through service to others.  Now it was her mother (our beloved Grandma Turner) who needed her, and she didn’t miss a beat.

Taking Grandma out of the nursing home she so clearly didn’t belong in, mom spent the next couple of years of her life sleeping on her sofa so Grandma could live out her final days with her in her one bedroom apartment.  She gave her bedroom to Grandma.

Mom loved on and doted on Grandma around the clock, and showed the kind of compassion and patience that God’s children should until Grandma died at the age of 98 in February of 2005.

Soon after our God called Grandma to his kingdom, he blessed my mother with the opportunity to move across the river to a better senior high-rise building into an upper floor apartment with a deck that overlooked the river.  Mom was overwhelmed with joy, but still she kept on putting others before herself.

My mother was the one who stepped up when my Uncle Don (her brother) lost his wife and then began to experience hardships with daily life due to the progression of his Parkinson’s disease.   She took him to the doctor, to lunch, or wherever he needed or wanted to go whenever those times came, and she never thought twice about it.

My mother cared for my Uncle until he went to be with our Lord last year, and since then she has shifted the focus of her service to Christ to caring for those in her apartment building who may need a ride to an appointment, or just someone to have lunch with and spend some time.  She volunteers at her church and helps out community organizations needing hands for things like stuffing envelopes for mailings.

Through all of that other service, my mother has never, ever stopped doing whatever she could to make sure my brother and I knew she was there for us and that she loved us, helping us whenever we have needed her.  She has continued to write letters to the editor of the hometown paper on issues she was passionate about, usually related to the school district and the welfare of its students.

My mother is a giver, not a taker.  My mother is a strong, stable woman with a beautiful, hopeful mind and a super-sized servant’s heart.

My Mother is a leader, a provider, a thinker, a survivor, and a positive influence on everyone whose life she touches.

My mother is popular in the community, loved by more people than I’m sure I’ll ever know about, and has been a radiant example of what a mother is supposed to look, think, and act like for over 40 years.

All that I am, and all that I will ever be as a leader, coach, mentor, and giver comes from our God through my extraordinary mother.

I cherish the long conversations on the phone my mother and I have, and treasure the time she spends with me in my home in the south, or in her apartment up north.  I still learn every day from my mother, but don’t tell her I said so.

No words could ever possibly describe the depth of the love and absolute admiration I have for my mother.

But still…I try.

Thank you mom!  I love you, and God Bless you.

About Coach Tom   

Tom Baker is a performance coach and communications specialist who owns and operates a communications and development company called Team Full Throttle.
Team Full Throttle (TFT) has been successfully providing expert performance coaching, media, and communications services for individuals and businesses for over 20 years. Currently, TFT’s client list serves the U.S. and Canada.

Individual and small business coaching, youth coaching, performance coaching, freelance writing, blogging, media and PR coaching, website development and maintenance, individual and company bios, and voice talent work are all a part of TFT’s menu of services.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., Team Full Throttle’s motorsports division has been improving racers’ on-track and off-track performance with coaching and public relations services for racers at every level. The organization had over 60 feature wins and multiple championships to its credit in 2010.