Slater's Mission.
Slater’s personal mission is to “Build Olympic Quality Children, not Olympic Athletes” by encouraging them to try their best at physical activities, not be the best. This philosophy introduces kids to the love of movement and healthy habits which in turn increases their self-confidence and provides the foundation for a fun, healthy lifestyle.
Slater is the Chief Funny Officer at The Little Gym of Edina where over 6,000 children from Edina and surrounding communities have been introduced to gymnastics, sports and dance in a non-competitive, nurturing environment. The philosophy of The Little Gym is to grow social, emotional, intellectual and physical skills by working with each child individually in a positive manner. Slater is always pointing out to parents that not only are kids physically learning the body mechanics a cartwheel but they are learning how to count, take turns and function within a group. These are important skills to learn when you are 2-4 years old.
Slater is a founding member of the board of directors for Playworks, a non-profit agency that organizes physical activities during recess in inner city schools, making the rest of the day more productive and positive for teachers and students. Playworks has been in Minneapolis for about 1 year and has gone from 3 schools to 9 schools and serves about 5500 kids each day.
Slater is also a volunteer soccer coach for Edina Soccer Club where he has coached each of his 3 daughters’ teams during the past 10 years. Slater brings his “try your best and have fun” philosophy to his coaching as well. This is an easy task when the kids are younger but becomes increasingly difficult as a child gets older and the pressures of “traveling” sports kick in. Slater wants all kids (not just the ones with “talent”) to stick with some form of athletics as long as possible because it is fun and healthy and promotes lifelong friendships and positive habits.
In all of these roles, Slater has realized the importance of connecting with each individual child. An “Olympic Quality Child” is not the best hockey player or fastest runner but the child who starts the soccer season hanging on mom’s leg, afraid to go onto the field and ends the season able to dribble the ball and willing to participate in the games. Slater has helped countless children by teaching them the basics of a forward roll or handstand then watching their confidence blossom in all areas because of one simple skill acquisition.
Slater’s mission is not to produce Edina’s next state hockey champs (although many of them might have gotten their start at The Little Gym) but instead to provide as many children as possible the opportunity to build confidence through movement and athletics – creating those Olympic Quality Children who will mature into Olympic Quality adults.