It started ten years ago when Kevin Wolma became the Athletic Director at Hudsonville High School.
"I started writing these short journal entries into our district newsletter," Wolma said. "I would get pretty positive feedback from people in our community so I would just continue to do them."
Last month Wolma published his book "30 Second Timeout" a collection of those articles.
He didn't anticipate writing a book before the abrupt end to the high school sports year.
"It just so happened over COVID that I finished my 30th one," Wolma said. "I always called it 30 Second Timeout in our district newsletter. It's like I got the time, I always thought maybe I'd write a book and this is the time to do it."
The book tackles the struggles and lessons in youth sports from Wolma's perspective as a parent, coach and athletic administrator.
"Kind of the purpose behind it is to make people think more than anything else," Wolma said. "And answer the question of what do you want out of this experience?"
One chapter in the book is called "When Time Stands Still." Wolma describes the importance of getting away from the practices, games and traveling of youth sports.
He reflects on a gift his three kids gave him, a picture of them on a trip to Alaska just to let them know how much they enjoyed the time together.
"Do you want all your memories to be in a gym or on a field or traveling all over Michigan and the Midwest and around the country doing stuff?" Wolma asked. The point of it was to hopefully not miss out on some of the other opportunities where you can build those meaningful relationships with your kids."
Wolma has twins that graduated from high school this spring. His last chapter is on COVID-19. His oldest children didn't get to play their final days as high school athletes.
"Time goes by very quickly and now that COVID hit it ended very abruptly so I never got a chance to see that last point," Wolma said about his daughter's tennis career. "The last point I saw my daughter play was her junior year in high school so it really reiterates the point of don't take it for granted."
The book is available on Amazon.
