The Moment

The Moment

The warm up is done.  Your coach has given you the pre-game speech.  You take off your sweats and you walk out onto the field.  The butterflies in your stomach seem more like eagles right now.  You are nervous and excited all at the same time.  You’ve been waiting for this for a long time.  You been working hard to get ready, to prepare.  This is it - this is your moment.

Are you ready?  Will you be up to the challenge?  Will you make the play? All of these thoughts race through your head as the ref places the ball between the two sticks and gets ready to blow the whistle.  Drops of sweat drip off your brow - some of it is from your warm up and some of it is from your excitement.  The ref backs out of the circle and blows the whistle - it’s happening, it’s really here - this is your moment.

Will you make the next play?  Will you make an impact?  Will you rise up?

Life is made up of moments.  The older you get the more you realize how important it is to be ready for YOUR moment - YOUR chance - YOUR opportunity.  As athletes I think it is so important to focus on the entire journey and not just the result.  Take pride in your preparation.  But most importantly be prepared - be ready.

What will be your moment?  Far too many people focus just on Championships.  Championships are awesome - don’t get me wrong, but let’s put them into perspective.  In 2015 in the state of New York - 365 girl’s varsity team will take the field this spring.  Only 4 of them will be called State Champions at the end of the year in Class A, B, C and Private.  Less than 1% of the teams playing will end the year as “Champions. ”  Don’t just let championships and end results be your measuring stick.  What about the other 361 teams?  Are they failures?  Of course not.  Let your measuring stick be your moments.  

There will be plenty of moments for you on your journey through life.  There will be plenty of moments for you on the field.  All I ask of you is this - be ready.  

The ref blows the whistle and the game has begun.  Nervous pent up energy explodes into physical energy.  The ball flies high into the air and has landed 5 yards from you.  Your opponent is only 4 yards away.  This is your moment.  You explode, you attack.  Instincts take over and you do nothing but focus on the ball in front of you.  You are ready.  You have scooped thousands of balls from the time you picked up your first stick.  

Do you remember picking up that first stick? Maybe you placed the ball into the stick with your hand.  Your pocket was so tight that the ball rattled around in the plastic.  It felt foreign to you.  It was strange.  Maybe you were uncomfortable.  But you learned how to cradle, how to scoop, catch and throw.  You put in the time, the effort, the practices, the blood, the sweat and sometimes the tears.  You worked hard because you love this game of lacrosse.  You worked hard to be ready.

You close in on the ground ball as you have caught up to your opponent.  You have gained ground because she was not going full speed.  She did not expect you to be there - you were ready and she was not.  You don’t slow down for even a split second and you explode through the ball.  Your hands are gripping the plastic of the head of your stick like you were always taught.  Your hands are even with the ground.  Your legs are bent and your eyes are focused.  

This is your moment!  There is no time to think, not time to question your self, your body and mind have taken over.  Practice has turned into habits, habits have turned into skill.  You are ready - you WILL do this.  Time seems to slow down for you as the ball is now scooped into your stick. It’s the first ground ball of the year.  So much went into this one moment and now it is yours.  

In your journey through life, it will be filled with lots of moments.  You need to be ready for them and the only way to be ready is to put in the time and effort required.  No one else can do this for you.  No coach, no parents, no teammates - Just you.  

How you react and perform in these moments is also just about YOU.  

Take pride in your work ethic.  Take pride in your practice.  Take pride in the time that you spend honing your skills.  All of this will prepare you for the moment.  

Whether that moment is picking up a ground ball, scoring the winning goal, making a great pass or being the girl who makes sure that her teammates are pumped up - just be ready.  

The lacrosse season has started.  Cherish the moment.

Coach K

p.s. If you want to listen to a great speech about the Moment - click below to listen to Herb Brooks talking to the Gold Medal winning Team USA hockey team from the move Miracle. Great Moments are Born from Great Opportunity!"

Social Media Sabotage

Social Media Sabotage

Updated as of 3/12/19:

Social media is such a great thing.  I personally love sites like FaceBook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter and I use all of them.  They are great for re-connecting with old friends and staying in touch with family, friends, coworkers and classmates.  They can also be a very valuable tool for your business as well.

However, social media can also be a tool that sabotages you forever.

This past week lacrosse was once again in the national news and unfortunately it was not for something good.  Five female lacrosse players at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) were suspended indefinitely for posts they made using an app called Group Me.  I am not part of the UMBC staff, athletic administration, the campus itself or do I have any connections to current players on the team  - however, we are all connected through the game of lacrosse.  And in full disclosure, I personally know one of their coaches Amy Slade.

The posts made by the 5 girls were really bad.  There were threats of bodily harm to their freshman teammates and eventually lead to one post essentially saying "maybe we should kill one of them" and then another that said "maybe we should kill one of the coaches as well."

These five girls have had their pictures on national media, they have been talked about on national news including Good Morning America and ESPN.   For the rest of their lives when someone googles their name, their suspensions and their posts will come up.  It's there for everyone to see.

I am not here to judge these girls or their coaches.  As they say, there are always three sides to every story,  Yours, Theirs and something in the middle.  Right now there are a lot of people pointing fingers and people have varying opinions on what should be done.  Well one head has already rolled. UMBC had co-head coaches - Amy Slade and Tony Giro.  Tony was released by UMBC yesterday and Amy has assumed the sole Head Coaching role.

As I tried to learn more about he situation I also uncovered that one of the freshman girls who exposed the posts was being called out and threatened.  Look how many people's lives are already forever changed because of social media and these posts.  Apparently the girls have apologized, and I am sure that every single one of them would love to have their words back.  But unfortunately - the internet is forever.  It's not just the lives of the players and the coaches that are effected, but the families, the school and the administration as well.

All of  this from posts made in a group chat!

Every mistake made needs to be analyzed so that we can learn from them.   This past weekend, and several times this week I have had group conversations with our parents, our coaches and some of our players about social media.  Over the last few years we have spoken to girls about the need to be diligent in reviewing what you are going to post.  In the UMBC case these girls all thought they were in a private group chat.  When it comes to social media there is no privacy.  When two people are involved privacy goes out the window - forget about a group.

We live in a crazy world.  There are so many stories of kids losing scholarships for college because of what they posted on social media.  What you may think is innocent or funny, someone else may use against you.

How about this scenario: you and another girl are the fighting for a spot on a big D1 program.  One of your friends posted a picture of you with a red cup in your hand.  The other girls finds the picture and anonymously forwards it to the coach who is recruiting you.  That red cup may have had nothing in it, or maybe it did - however, your reputation is now at risk.  This is not a made up story - it has happened.

Therefore we want to suggest to the girls a simple formula that will help them when it comes to social media - THINK.

As the poster says - "The Internet is Forever."  We have told the girls, before you post something, besides using the THINK formula, ask yourself - "What would my grandmother think if she read this?"

Also remember it not just what you post - it's what your friends post as well where you are involved.  This is all simple advice that can keep you worry free from sabotaging  your team, your community, your school and most importantly YOU and your family.

Team Elevate - Where You Are

WHERE YOU ARE

For many of you the start of your high school season really begins this week.  For the first time you get the opportunity to play against other teams.  This is always exciting.  Just to play should be a fun thing.  

However, some of you may be in a situation that is new or uncomfortable for you.  Maybe you did not make the team you tried out for.  How you handle your disappointment will say a lot about you as a person.  Do you let this short term disappointment negatively affect you?  Or does it mold you and make you stronger?  

“It’s not how many times you get knocked down that matters, it’s how many times you get back up.”  If you want something in life bad enough, you will do all that is possible to fight for it and achieve it.  

Maybe you did not make Varsity and were asked to play JV?  Maybe you did not make JV?  Whatever it is - what are you going to do now.  Are you going to put your head down or are you going to keep fighting.  I hope you keep fighting and working HARDER than you ever have. 

I was reading a great book, Vision of a Champion by Anson Dorrance, the head women’s soccer coach at the university of North Carolina.  In the book, one of his former players who is now a big time coach talks about how to handle defeat.  One of the things she says you must do is take personal responsibility for it.  We live in a society that loves to place blame on everyone else .  The call it the “Blame Radar.”  

We want to blame everyone else.  It’s very hard for many athletes to begin to understand that there are politics involved in just about every aspect of life.  Is that fair? Definitely not.  But they exist and we need to deal with them.  How you deal with them will reveal a lot about your character and your beliefs. 

One thing I ask of all of you when you do face defeat is to ask yourself one simple question - Did I do everything I need to put myself in the best position to succeed?  Be honest with yourself.  If you didn’t - work harder.  If you did and you still did not achieve your goal - keep working - harder!  

Some of you may have made the team you tried out for - congratulations!  But the words above apply to you as well.  Everyone will have setbacks when you play sports long enough.  You may get injured, you may get benched, you may not get the playing time you think you deserve  - how you handle yourself in those situations is what is most important.  Don’t blame anyone else - look inside.  Now that you made the team you wanted - be a player and a person who makes a difference.  Be the teammate that every wants to be around.  The best players make everyone around them better.  Be the hardest worker regardless of where you are.  

“The Vision of a Champion is someone bent over, drenched in sweat at the point of exhaustion - when no one else is watching” - by Anson Dorrance after watching Mia Hamm train on her own when no one was watching.  

We live in an “instantaneous world” where we want everything right now.  Success is not instantaneous.  It takes work, determination, grit and a willingness to overcome whatever obstacles come your way.  Success also takes failures and mistakes.  In some case you need to make many mistakes and overcome many failures before you reach true success.  The one thing all of you girls have is a support structure with Team Elevate and our coaching staff.  We are here for you every step of the way, even when you stumble.  No matter where you are just remember that hard work will get you anywhere you want.  We are here to help. If it’s important to you it’s important to us.

All my best!

Coach K