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Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series on former high school athletes raising high school athletes in today’s world.

ADAMS — Southland head football coach JJ Galle often has his mind in many places.

It could be on how his team will play when they move up to Class A this fall, it could be about his daughter Breeley’s upcoming senior year, or it could be about a competitive dance meet he just watched. With four daughters involved in multiple sports, JJ and his wife Alisha, an EL teacher at Neveln Elementary who was named Austin Public Schools Teacher of the Year when she was at Woodson Kindergarten in 2019, stay busy year round.

It’s a good thing they are well prepared as they both grew up as three-sport athletes themselves.

Always on the go

JJ and Alisha were track and field teammates when they attended Heron Lake-Okabena High School, and JJ also played football and basketball, including some time with the Hamline University football team. Alisha was active in cross country and gymnastics, which was her main sport.

The Galle children, who range from fourth grade to 12th grade, are always keeping their parents busy.

“I think they are busier than we were as kids,” said Alisha. “I did gymnastics pretty much year round, but it was just gymnastics and I didn’t have to share it with other sports in the summer. As a parent, I now realize how much my parents probably did as far as getting us to our events with the right gear. I think it’s great that they’re involved in many things and they get to try it all. At a bigger school, I don’t think they would have this many opportunities.”

The Galle sports schedule is a year-round roller coaster that keeps the family on the run.

Breeley is a 1,000-point scorer in basketball, a multiple state qualifier in track and field, and a volleyball player. Mirenna, a 10th-grader, is active in dance, volleyball and softball and she is one of the student managers for the Rebel football team, while Aveda, a seventh-grader, is active in basketball, softball, dance and volleyball. Fourth-grader, Bryndle, is just getting started with basketball, softball, track and dance.

Three of the four girls are also involved in the school musical and piano lessons.

“It’s a constant juggling act. This is 21 years for me coaching at Southland and it’s been nonstop,” JJ said. “You give up any little bit of free time. Family is first, football is second, and then maybe I get to ride my motorcycle on a given day. My Saturdays are dedicated to family stuff in the fall. There are a lot of really successful coaches that are divorced because they couldn’t balance the family aspect. Alisha has to be a single mom sometimes in the fall and she does a lot of the running around and drop-offs.”

Sibling support

While she is the oldest sister, Breeley is not embarrassed or too good to bring Aveda and Bryndle along for a basketball shoot around and she appreciates that her younger sisters are all taking on busy schedules much like her own.

“We’ve always been competitive with each other, even though we’re in different grades. Aveda, Bryndle and I will go shoot together. We all do our own sports together just to get better. Bryndle’s getting there, she’s getting good,” Breeley said.

While having a lot of kids in a lot of sports makes it tough for the siblings to see each other play, they still find ways to stay interested in each other’s competitions.

“It’s good for the family,” Alisha said. “The moments they have in sports make good conversations when we do all get together.”

Bryndle may be following in the footsteps of her sisters and parents, but she’s usually too active to take note of what her big sisters are up to.

“I don’t usually watch. I just play,” she said. “It’s fun to have competition and it’s fun to hang out with your friends.”

Reasons to play

When JJ and Alisha were in high school, sports were a great way for them to make friends. In fact, JJ joined the Legion baseball team the summer after his senior year just to hang out with his friends.

As far as offseason training, there were some strength and conditioning programs, but nothing like athletes have today. Mostly, athletes wanted to team up with their friends so they could beat teams from other towns.

“We always did (play sports) because that was our connection to our friends. We didn’t have cellphones, Facebook, Snapchat or anything like that,” JJ said. “We didn’t like kids from other schools because they weren’t us and we wanted to beat them.”

It turns out, the reason to play sports hasn’t changed that much. While all of the Galle girls are competitive and like to win, they also enjoy the connections they make through playing their favorite sports.

“You get to see your friends a lot more and you get to play the sport you like a lot more in the summer,” Mirenna said. “It’s a lot of fun. You get to see different teammates every year in school sports and you get to build up new friendships.”

Aveda said that sports help her in many ways.

“Sports really help with leadership,” she said. “I like sharing moments with my friends, enjoying the wins and learning from the losses.”

Change in approach

While the games are just as fun as they always have been, JJ acknowledges that it takes a lot more to win now, with many teams holding multiple offseason programs.

Breeley’s favorite sport is basketball, and she maintains an AAU schedule that keeps her busy, even when she’s still competing in track and field.

“Once track starts, I have an AAU tournament almost every weekend. On Wednesdays, I go straight from track practice to AAU and during the summer I go straight from school ball practice to AAU,” Breeley said. “I’m always going to do something, and I’m not sitting around ever. It keeps me in shape. I’ve always enjoyed sports. I enjoy seeing my friends every day after a full day of school, whether it’s a practice or a game. I always have something to look forward to.”

As head coach of the Southland football team, JJ has seen how much work goes into preparing for the season. If a team doesn’t have a summer training program, its chances of competing are slim to none when the regular season begins.

“We’ve gotten better with training our athletes and everyone else is putting in more time too. The biggest difference is the time commitment required to be successful now. Kids have a lot more opportunities now, which is awesome, but it also makes it more busy,” JJ said. “Three sport athletes are celebrated because it’s a lot of work. They have their favorite sports, but the other two sports also matter. You have to be balanced and give the other sports their due as well. I think that’s great for when they’re employed in the future. They’re used to being busy and that will help them in the workforce.”

While the family schedule is extremely busy, the Galle’s wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s crazy fun. You watch them get to grow on their own and they’re busy all of the time,” JJ said. “I try to never look at any of it as a negative, because you talk to people and when they’re kids are done, they really miss it. I’m not much of a dancer, but when Mirenna dances, you can tell she’s loving life. That girl can sleep til noon, but she’s up at 4:50 a.m. for dance practice all winter.”