A Father's Influence

The Agridome, now known as the Brandt Centre, in Regina is the home of the Regina Pats. As a child, I would attend the odd game of local WHL hockey with my family.
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Come to one cold Regina night, I was to go to the Agridome to watch hockey. 🏒
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Not the young aspiring future NHLers but to watch my dad.
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My memory is that his hockey games never happened at this rink AND not at the hour any young child should be awake to attend.
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I stepped into the rink and saw my dad on the ice. I turned to my mom and asked "where are all the fans?" as I looked at the empty stadium seats.
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I expected to see the crowds that a typical Regina Pats game would bring out. My little mind just didn't understanding this was "old man beer league hockey." LOL! 😂
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I tell you this story because this Sunday is Father's Day.
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It got me thinking about the paternal influences on my physical activity. The influence of my dad, from a physical activity behaviour change model include constructs such as vicarious experiences in the self-efficacy theory, subjective norm in the Theory of Planned Behaviour and/or the microsystem in the Social Ecological Model.
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Whoa there Lisa, let's not get all technical about it! More on those another day, my friend!
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Yet, as I kept thinking about the influence, I starting to come up with so many scenarios.
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My dad played hockey. I'd be going to bed and he'd be gearing up to go to the rink.
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We'd play catch with the football in the front yard on warm summer nights. I can't lie, this was my favourite time with him. You also can't live in Regina and not cheer for the Saskatchewan Roughriders football team. He's an avid fan. Go Green and White!
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Every summer family vacation we would stay at hotels with waterslides. He patiently would ride down on the scary ones with me and/or be the face at the bottom ready to catch me as the rush of water flowed off the bottom of the slide.
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Don't get me started on his commitment to mowing the lawn just right and vacuuming the house in a particular order. All fatherly domestic chores AND physical activity!
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And we'd take bike rides together around my childhood neighbourhood inspecting all the new homes and watching the developing fields around our house become urban roads.
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His physical activity and exercise choices impacted me. Although never a discussion of "you must exercise" but more in the actions he took to be physically active.

What actions and physical activity behaviours did your dad show you?
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Send me a note and let me know the power of your Father's physical activity on you!
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It may be in traditional exercises or simply in all the physical work that was required for occupations like farmers, milkman or even as a tradesman.
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And like me, Kate shared her influence of her dad with her post for The Why I Move Project. Take a read of how she tells how her dad's behaviours showed her about physical activity and how it relates brushing your teeth!​

Stay well and happy moving, Lisa