Tuesday as Coach Puksyzn talked with the team after practice he spoke about taking care of your business as a football player. Like many other things football parallels life off the field.
We had several players who skipped their obligations as far as doing their weekly weight lifting. This is a vital part of our program. To maintain strength during the season is imperative for safety and success.
Plus we have one of the best strength programs in the country headed up by Tom Long with his interns Amanda and Laurie. These guys are in our complex by 5:00 or 5:30 am every weekday and often here after 7 or 8 at night. Oh yeah here on the weekends as well. You don’t see many cars in the faculty parking lot at these hours by the way.
Amazingly enough you can see a common thread here. There were eight or nine of our 85 or so current players who decided it was just to difficult to do what their teammates could do. (My father, the electrical engineer, would be proud to know that I figured this to be a little more than 10% of the team.)
I know – this is Division III athletics and no one is under scholarship. But that doesn’t mean we don’t do the necessary things to develop a strong and successful program.
Right now we are playing with young and inexperienced players so it is essential that we develop championship habits. These are traits that will enable us to move forward and be successful on the field. But, these are also the things that carry over into our lives off the field.
Now I’m not telling anyone anything earth shattering here- the guys who miss our “voluntary mandatory” work are the same guys who miss meetings (“Just can’t get out of bed – I’m not a morning person”) Skip class although they tell you they are going (“Honest coach I was there”) – this is after an email where the prof alerted us to the absence. Or missing weight lifting (It’s pointless..I don’t play that much anyway”) – yeah you’re a senior and have been dodging everything for four years – can’t get on the field – imagine that!
Listen, with my outstanding 2.25 grade point average I don’t have a lot of thick ice to stand on here. I was certainly a screw up that found his way (somewhat anyway) eventually. I’m sure I was a handful.
But after years of working with young people you hope they can learn from experiences you can pass down to them. It gives a coach tremendous satisfaction to see the players around him succeed in whatever they choose. So, it is our obligation to have some conformity with the guys within the program.
But, what the seniors in this group of wayward football players will find out when (if) they graduate – the cruel cold world doesn’t care if you are not a morning person or if you had your latte with espresso shot to get your heart going.
To the underclassmen who are finding the easy way to their liking – just look at what that path has gotten those seniors mentioned above!?!
Coach also touched on the emphasis on doing the small things that are necessary to be successful on and off the field. Paying attention to the details that are so vital to being not only a successful athlete or student but a productive member of our campus as well.
Hey…just do what you are supposed to do -go to class…..do your job on the field….. be a good teammate……don’t be late……don’t embarrass your family, yourself or the program. Just to name a few.
He cited a quote from one of the best books you can read (“Legacy” by John Kerr) about successful organizations. “Sweeping the Sheds” is a statement about how even the best players help clean the locker rooms after a practice or game. No one is above doing the smallest and dirtiest jobs on or off the field.
This is a fantastic and easy read about how the New Zealand national rugby team – the “All Blacks” builds their organization and creates such a successful team on and off the field. They have been World Cup champions several times and have won more than 85% of their International tests (games) over the past twenty or so years.
I have and would encourage everyone who is about team building to find a copy and give it a quick read. I have spent time with one of their coaches and another of their associates and I will tell you this is an amazing bunch of people.
Many of you have seen the All Blacks perform the haka before they play. If you haven’t:
Trust me it is an unnerving display of testosterone used to fire up their team and intimidate the opponent. I think this might a good exercise for a Zumba class!
So we will continue to build the Greyhound football program. We will continue to help the athletes realize how much they can learn from a simple game. Yup, we will get un their collective asses if they screw up as well!
GO HOUNDS!
Oh yeah how about some darts this week with Captain Saturn and the lads at the Hungarian Hall in Northampton this Thursday. Seems like a great idea to me.
Perhaps a quick stop at Mario’s Pizza for a snack. Yeah that does seem like a pretty good idea.