Envision, Prepare, Believe, Accomplish

Envision. It all starts with the parents and then the coaches. In the best case scenario, envisioning will become self sustaining by the athlete before the mentorship is complete. The children learn to walk, talk and find ways to spend time and entertain themselves that hopefully includes physical activity. At some point the children develop interests that might include competition that requires a skill and physical conditioning. At that point the child is hopefully encouraged to continue to have fun while an adult is hopefully taking an active interest in helping the child develop skills and exercise methods that will offer a competitive edge. Eventually the life learning process should include “envisioning” of which includes setting goals and then studying and imaging the preparation process and end result long before the end result is achieved. Imaging is the mental process similar to day dreaming, when the young athlete envisions him/her self and the team accomplishing the goals while planning or imagining the conditioning and skill learning preparation process. Envisioning primarily involves positive thought process bolstered by verbal encouragement to set high goals including a plan to work hard to achieve those goals. It is very important for the process to include the knowledge that the extreme potential is primarily limited by the depth, or lack of depth of the positive thought process and the amount of work put toward achieving the goals. If you think you can’t, then you are probably right.  It you think you can, then you have a much better chance of achieving the goals. The most difficult part about achieving successful envisioning for a team sport is that it has to include everyone on the team at a very early age. As afore mentioned, it is extremely important for the parents to help shape and mold this positive thought process. The most successful coaches will include an enhancement or at a very minimum, a continuation of the positive goal oriented envisioning thought process. Coaches come and coaches go, but in the best case scenario, the positive mentoring by parents and “positive process coach” influences will continue beyond the life expectancy of the parents and coaches. 

Prepare. It all starts with the parents and then the coaches. In the best case scenario, motivation for superior preparation is self sustaining by the athlete before the mentorship is complete. The actual preparation has many aspects. If envisioning is done properly, then the preparation is an extension of that positive process. Coaches will come and coaches will go but the parents will be the constant when it comes to encouraging the impressionable young athlete to put forth a dedicated effort to achieve the goals that have been set. The most dedicated and motivated parents will track the progress of the team from the earliest stages and will take an active role in encouraging associated off season camp participation, conditioning clinics and even setting up off season camps and clinics that include good role models that provide accurate and competitive instructions.  The most successful coaches will take a very active role in this off season phase of encouragement and development.  As the young athletes get older they are pulled in many different directions and this fragmentation jeopardizes the intense focus that is required to be the most proactive in continuing their personal and team preparation for continued team related success. The support of the coaches and parents are even more important regarding the continued encouragement in the later stages of this development process. Coaches with knowledge and or experience beyond the high school level of play are of course the most ideal. There are however many resources available to provide parents and even professionals with proper skill methods and associated drills that can be utilized to prepare the athlete to compete at the athlete’s and team’s highest potential. In the most successful athletic programs at TLM, the parents have provided literally thousands of dollars and thousands of hours in regards to providing their children and their teams the edge to compete at their highest potential. There has to be a harmonic blend of off season efforts between parents and coaches for these efforts and sacrifices to be successful. The parents have to also believe in and respect the coach’s authority to exclusively coach the team during the season for this to be a true positive and rewarding process. There is a selection process for coaches that ideally results in coaches who know the high expectations of character and positive process that is required of them.

Believe. It all starts with the parents and then the coaches. For the most successful scenario to play out, the young athlete’s belief in their self will have to become self sustaining by the athlete before the mentorship is complete. This is not to say that the parents or coaches do not have an obligation to play a continued role in this belief process. The young athlete should believe in themselves, their teammates and their coaches. They should know that their hard work toward their personal and team goals is what makes their goals realistic and attainable. The unsupported young athlete will often question the validity of their success or failures by challenging the perceived notion that they are good enough to compete at a given level. If a “low moment” happens, it is a pivotal moment in the evolution of the individual athlete and team. Positive encouragement by the influencing adults (including parents and coaches) and team leaders will determine if the success will continue with positive reinforcement or spiral down in despair. Nobody said this would be easy. The most notable accomplishments involve a lot of work by the recipients of the associated honors and awards.   It takes much more courage for a coach to openly have “influencing confidence” than it does to not have “influencing confidence” regarding a team that he or she currently influences or coaches.  A coach with “communicated confidence to achieve” might fear the risk of some perceived loss of credibility if he or she is wrong.  In defense of the coach, a coach that is into coaching for the long haul has to continue long beyond the years of when he or she is coaching the “current team”.     If “open publicized confidence” is not the coaches’ “style” then it is up to the parents, fans and team leaders to boldly provide this very key contagious component.  When people are providing a public “vote of confidence”, on the street, in the halls, web blogs, at pep rallies, in the huddle, etc, the team confidence is rallied and the team is peaked to deliver.  The timing of the ultimate vote of confidence and the timing of the intensity of this message is also very strategic.  Public media quotes on TV, Radio, Television, Newspaper, etc, is however a place where confidence can be exuded but of course should be respectful and tactful to the point of never outright predicting any specific victory.  Interviews are an excellent time for the athlete to continue the TLM tradition of speaking respectfully about the opponents and refusing to talk about the interviewed athlete’s self but instead only making positive comments about his coaches and teammates.  This can sometimes be frustrating to the person doing the interview but they will respect you for not tooting your own horn.  Sometimes, teammates, (all of whom are very important to the success of the team), will not ever be mentioned by media unless it comes from the mouth of the one teammate that is being interviewed.  To dwell on ones self might cause jealousy or self consciousness and that can be detrimental to the performance of the team.  Very few people truly want to hear what the athlete has to say about him/her self.  To name and mention the importance of the teammates and coaches to media sources will strengthen the team, to fail to do so will not. 

Accomplish. For the athlete and his teammates to accomplish their highest potential, the process has to include a strong positive thought process that includes Envisioning, Preparation and Belief. Impressive "team stats" generally do reflect championships. Any successful team's focus has to be on team achievement because if it is not about team achievement then what is it about?  The smallest and most hollow celebration would be for an individual statistic or honor regarding participation in a team sport unless there is a proportional team accomplishment to coincide with the event.   Anything less than unselfish teamwork is............less.  The sacrifice of superior preparation by athletes who compete on champion teams is derived from deep within the athletes’ drive and commitment to themselves, commitment to the team goals and commitment to their teammates.  To understand the depth of this is to know and understand the unselfish sacrifices of the most accomplished athletes.   Taking care of ones’ body and athletic drive through discipline of proper diet, rest and resistance to the pressures from bad examples of peers to drink alcohol or worse are the defining details that separate the true athletes and leaders from the wasted “could of been”.  The common knowledge among teammates regarding the extent of their sacrifice will be appreciated by the true TLM athletes, will be defining, and will likely be a shared memory of an extreme commitment that they will always share in their hearts.   May our prayers be with these TLM athletes as they prepare and compete as a team in their efforts to achieve team goals.