As high school sports teams form, young athletes from a variety of schools, backgrounds, club teams, neighborhoods all will come together. Teams are formed quickly, but the opportunity to create and bonds, friendship and camaraderie have long term ramifications.
What does this mean for a freshman?
Be a team player. Let go of your ego.
How do you do that?
There are a couple great examples that are easy to implement regardless of sport.
Abby Wambach, 2nd leading international goal scorer of all-time and member of the US Soccer Hall of Fame, describes her goal celebrations as RUSH or POINT. When she scored she always peeled away POINTING. She was pointing specifically at a teammate who made the goal possible. When someone else scored she RUSHED to be among the first to celebrate with the goal scorer. Abby is, of course, extremely competitive, but she realized very quick in the world of team sport that it is easy to fail when you go alone and the biggest success came when the team was working TOGETHER!
The New Zealand rugby team is famously known as the All Blacks. They have a handful of rules that drive the culture of their team. Sweep the Sheds and Leave the Jersey in a Better Place are two of the fundamentals of the team.
SWEEP THE SHEDS literally refers to cleaning the locker room (whether they are home or away) before they leave the stadium. No fans would ever see the trash left behind or they might not even care, but when people come to clean the dressing room they always compliment the All Blacks respect for the property and ultimately respect for themselves. Cleaning up after themsleves is a show of respect. It is a signal that they are not above anyone. No job is below them. They shed their ego and do the work.
LEAVE THE JERSEY IN A BETTER PLACE is a great one to remember for high school athletes. You have, at most, a 4 year opportunity to represent your school. How you carry yourself on and off the field of play will not only impact your reputation but have an impact on the entire school. What can you do to help drive reputation of the school in a positive direction? When you are representing the team, the name on the front will always be more important than the one on the back. How you treat your teammates, opponents, coaches, officials, fans, teachers, staff, parents, friends, etc will reflect on you, the team and even the school. Your impact will not go unnoticed, so make sure that impact is a positive one!
RUSH OR POINT.
SWEEP THE SHEDS.
LEAVE THE JERSEY IN A BETTER PLACE.
Be the BEST. Be YOUR BEST. BE YOU TO THE MAX.
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