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