Who Has Helped You on Your Journey-Support Systems Revisted

If you look at the current landscape of throwing in the United States, you are quick to see that there are many up-and-coming throwers currently competing at the collegiate level.  In the opening week of the outdoor season, Magdalyn Ewen, competing for Arizona State, broke the women's American collegian hammer record with a throw of 72.71m.  There have been countless performances, such as this one, this past season.

Another young and up-and-coming thrower is Mckenzie Warren, throwing for Concordia University.  She broke the Division II Indoor Shot-Put record with a throw of 17.62m.  

With so many great performances coming this 2016-17 season, the researcher in me is thinking, "What type of support system(s) do throwers like Magdalyn and Mckenzie have in place that have allowed them the opportunity to reach the pinnacle of throwing in their respective events (Hammer & Shot-Put)?"

A great opportunity was presented to me the other day when Sean Donnelly, an up-and-coming American hammer thrower, invited people to ask him questions for Q&A he was conducting with fellow thrower Cullen Aubin.  For those of you reading, you know I couldn't resist the temptation to ask Sean this question, "What people have contributed most to your post-collegiate success so far?"  Thank you Cullen for selecting my question.  Thank you Sean for answering.  You can find his answer below.

You can find Cullen's Youtube page below.

For the current collegiate and post-collegiate throwers out there, in what ways do you feel your support system has contributed to your throwing success?  Are there specific people that assisted you early on in your throwing career that paved the way for you?  Do you feel it was the physical environment and location?  Have training partners played a role in your success?  

Like I mentioned on Sean's Youtube comments, I believe it is important for throwers to share their message's for others to hear.  Throwing is a relatively obscure sport, however sharing your why and putting yourself out there can generate a following, or social media support system, that gets behind you and is interested in your throwing success.  It's difficult to support someone if you don't know that much about them, what they like and don't like, and do what they do.

As always, thanks for reading.  Please share your comments below, on Facebook, or even on Instagram.

My best,

​Charles