Being a part of Track and Field, I’ve gotten my fair share of shin splints. Since I’m too stubborn to just stop and do nothing, I asked the throwing coach Thomas Fleming to see if I could throw, and it’s at this point when he and I became close. 

Everyone calls him Tom. But I call him the “The Gatorade Guardian” because of what he does for the athletes. Whenever a thrower achieves a personal record, Tom rewards them with a gatorade. In addition to being a coach, he is a Wisconsin State Patrol officer, and his authority with that title makes the nickname nearly perfect.

Fleming makes me feel like family. Even while asking him some questions for this story, he gave me a heartfelt speech. Any day that I feel the slightest bit negative, I look back to the message that he sent me. It floods my emotions with a belonging that doesn’t come up a lot.

Another time I remember well was when he brought his son into practice. Tom was asking him if he wanted to play sports, but his son was nervous because of the unfamiliar faces in the room. Instead of looking at his dad for the answer, he was looking at me. I would shake my head no, he would giggle and say no. Just having Fleming’s son look up to me like that made me feel like I was a part of their family.