Little Eyes

Author Unknown

There are little eyes upon you
And they’re watching night and day;
There are little ears that quickly
Take in every word you say;
There are little hands all eager
To do anything you do;
And a little boy who’s dreaming
Of the day he’ll be like you.
You’re the little fellow’s idol,
You’re the wisest of the wise.
In his little mind about you
No suspicions ever rise.
He believes in you devoutly,
Hold all that you say and do;
He will say and do in your way
When he’s a grown-up like you.
There’s a wide-eyed little fellow
Who believes you’re always right
And his ears are always open
And he watches day and night.
You are setting an example
Every day in all you do,
For the little boy who’s waiting
To grow up to be like you.

The Man in the Glass

Author–Dale Wimbrow

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself,
And see what THAT man has to say.

For it isn’t your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass;
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum
And think you’re a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear up to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

The Man on the Bench

Author Unknown

The man on the bench is the man for me
He’s not the star, but he’s the key .
Without his aid and help each day,
I doubt if there would be a play.
Every run by a team on “big game” day
He holds the dummy and shows the way when
The other team runs that certain play.
When not being clocked, he’s chasing punts.
Or shagging fly balls, and fielding bunts,
Or a hundred and one other useful stunts.
He’s always the “skins” against the “shirts”,
And the night of the game he sits and hurts,
He helps with equipment, and picks up balls.
Sets up the hurdles, and takes the falls,
But is always ready when some coach calls.
He’s not on the sports page every time
When a “dollar” is waiting, he’s the “dime”

He comes to the banquet with a little prayer,
Hoping this year the “letter” is there.
As he squirms wishfully in his chair.
And he suffers a little along with his coach,
As the names are read and no approach
Is made to him there is a wrench
In his heart. But his teeth will clench,
As he says, “next year”, this man on the bench.
What happens to all the men like these.
Who seem, all elbows, thumbs, and knees.
Don’t feel sorry for their frustrations,
They are the men who head corporations,
And sit on the councils of great nations.

They learn the value of raw sheer grit,
The determination that won’t say quit.
The value of facing rugged strife
To face the gun with just a knife,
They learn how to make a fight in life.
To the man on the bench I give my hand
With the greatest respect, ’cause he’s my man,
Please don’t worry, he’ll go far
Be it jet propulison or motor car,
Somewhere in life, he will be a star.

Here are a couple of articles I like to include each year in our player’s notebooks. I also think that these qualities or any mental or intangible qualities you are looking to instill in your players must be a part of your improvement season or out of games season workouts or practices.

A certain amount of growth in maturity (or any other character trait that we value in our programs) will develop with returning players being a year older. But, my belief is that for those traits to reach the level I want them at, our coaching staff must work to develop them.

I hope these ideas have some value to you and can share them with your athletes to help them improve mentally.

Like any list that I provide on this site, I don’t claim that it is all inclusive, but I hope that you can adapt some of the ideas and use them in your program.

Maturity Is…

1. The ability to do a job whether you are supervised or not; finish a job once it is started; carry money without spending it, and be able to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.
2. The ability to control anger and settle differences without violence or destruction.
3. Patience.  It is the willingness to postpone immediate gratification in favor of the long-term gain.
4. Perseverance, the ability to sweat out a project or a situation in spite of heavy opposition and discouraging setbacks.
5. The capacity to face unpleasantness and frustration, discomfort and defeat without being bitter, complaint or collapse.
6. Humility.  It is being big enough to say, “I was wrong” and I am sorry.” And, when right, the mature person need not experience the satisfaction of saying, “I told you so!”
7. The ability to make a decision and stand by it.  The immature spend their lives exploring endless possibilities; then they do nothing.
8. Dependability, integrity, and keeping one’s word.  It coming through in a risis.  The immature-have excuses for everything.  The immature are masters of the alibi.  They are confused and disorganized.  They are the chronically tardy, the-no shows the gutless wonders who fold in the crises.  Their lives are a maze of broken promises, former friends, unfinished business and good intentions that somehow never materialized.
9. The art of living in peace with that which we-cannot change, the courage to change that which can be changed and the wisdom to know the difference!
10. Something each of us possesses large-or small-pockets of immaturity: the totally mature individual does not exist.  Nor does one grow up all at once. Like  physical growth, emotional growth is achieved one day at a time.
11. Unselfishness, responding to the needs of others.

    “Our coaching staff believes-through extensive experience-that competitive athletics contributes materially to maturity.”

 

6 Qualities of Character Essential for Maturity

SINCERITY. Some people we know always have their cards face up. We know where they stand and we know where we stand with them.  There is no sham, pretense, hypocrisy, apple-polishing, show, arrogance or equivocation.  They are real all the way through.  This is an essential ingredient in getting along with people.

PERSONAL INTEGRITY. This refers to the special qualities of decency, honesty, loyalty, fair play and honor.  An individual with a real personal integrity has a deep sense of  responsibility and dependability.   He is sound.  He keeps his promises.  He lives up to his commitments.

HUMILITY. If one picks out the great leaders of our present, of our past, one invariably finds the character trait humility.   Maturity is usually combined with modesty.  Never is it present in the smart alecks, the know-it-alls, the self appointed saviors, nor the persons whoknow the answers before they hear the questions,

COURTESY. This means much more than just being thoughtful or polite to other people, It means tolerance.  I have my eccentricities and peculiarities and I approve of you having yours.  You are just as good as I am, and I’ll respect your right to speak your piece even if I don’t agree, this is courtesy in its largest sense.  Can you, under pressure, remain gracious, considerate, and courteous?

WISDOM. There isn’t any escape from the fact that, even though an individual might, be sincere and humble and courteous, unless he has the wisdom to make the right decisions and actions, to do the right things at the right time, to give correct guidance and counsel when  it is indicated, he doesn’t get along with people.

CHARITY. Maybe this is the most important attribute for any personality.     In its broadest interpretation it means the capacity to love.  It implies acceptance of the fact that we all have weaknesses; we all make mistakes.  To be able to get along with people requires the charity of forgiveness.  Are you big enough and generous enough to love your neighbor as yourself?

Six Qualities of Character Essential for Maturity by: Horace E. Hudson, Cooperative Extension Service, The University of Georgia

Adopted from materials on Character and Moral DevelopmentUniversity of Illinois, Cooperative Extension Service in Agriculture and Home Economics, Urbana, Illinois

PURPOSE

Football Character & Leadership Academy seeks to create positive change on our team, in our school, in our families, and in our community through:

1. Educating our athletes about living with exceptional moral value
2. Building strong leadership qualities in our athletes
3. Helping our athletes create a personal leadership philosophy
4. Practical implementation of what they are learning through projects, group work, and community/school service opportunities
5. The Character and leadership Academy seeks to impact our football athletes well beyond the days, months, and years they are in our football program.
6. Leadership is a quality that can tap into the potential of others. A quality leader can make average players good and good players great. Being a leader means
7. Being unselfish. Putting others before yourself because a team is more effective than just one person. So when you are out on that field, all alone, no coaches to walk you through something, no hand to hold, look to each other to get the job done because that what leaders do. They embrace solutions, not excuses.
8. Become model citizens in the community
9. Become a good example both on and off the field
10. Figure out where your skills will apply and utilize them efficiently and effectively
11. “You don’t have to be the top dog to become a leader”
12. Set you up for success beyond academics and athletics
13. Develop unity and camaraderie with each other
14. Build confidence around others
15. “Don’t second guess yourself”.

WHAT DO I EXPECT FROM YOU?

 Commitment –Part of being a quality leader is committing yourself no matter what. If you commit, it will be worth your while.

 Be present–Being present is not just being in attendance. Being present means participating. Be a part of the program. Ask questions. Answer questions. Take risks. Be vulnerable. It is a great way to learn about yourself and others.

 Be punctual–Part of being successful is just being there. If you are on time, you are late. If you are 5 minutes early, you are on time. We don’t show up to the field at game time and play, we get there early to ensure we are ready for what is to come.

 Respect each other–Mutual respect is a sign of a great team. You don’t always have to like everyone, but respect that we are all here for the same reason, to better ourselves as individuals so we can better serve those around us.

 All in–Be all in. Give everything you have. When you put everything on the table, you have the opportunity to walk away with a lot more than you came with.

There is no question that a leadership academy is an essential element in the development of our student athletes. One might argue that, not only do the athletes benefits from a rich leadership curriculum, but those same teams that step away from the practice field to study team-building values, always seem to maintain a superior on-field performance. It is not a coincidence!

High school athletics must be about more than simply winning and losing on Friday nights. Establishing a Players’ Leadership Council is an effective way to not only separate your team’s spirit from other completing high schools, but it allows student athletes to leave a lasting legacy that could generate returns for years to come.

First, it is proven that athletic cultures with enhanced group unity experience a higher level of professional and personal achievement. In the class material, From Resume to Championship, we learned that if two opposing teams are equal in ability, the team with greater leadership as a higher probability of winning. It is not uncommon to observe two teams compete at an elevated level for three quarters, only to watch one of the groups fade away during the last period, ending contest in a lopsided outcome. Leadership is about relationships. The team that maintains a deeper connection between the individual participants will typically exhaust more effort in times of stress and tension.

Leadership committees allow the student-athletes an opportunity to demonstrate core values. Athletes effectively learn from a variety of resources, but some of the strongest lessons are modeled through the actions of their own teammates so, it might suggest that this idea is especially true when evaluating standards such as: work ethic and discipline. Younger athletes may often feel intimated and uncertain about the expected effort required to perform within competitive environment. Often it is the older athletes that provide a foundation for those younger athletes to follow. It is this continuous cycle of athletes helping athletes which produce legacies of productive tradition and belief.

I. A Leader Must Accept Full Responsibility

1. A leader is responsible for all that his team does—or fails to do.
2. You have to take responsibility for yourself, and you have to take responsibility for your team.
3. The word “if” should be eliminated from a leader’s vocabulary. “If I were bigger; if I were faster; if I had more strength; if I had a better coach; if I had more experience”
4. The day an athlete takes complete responsibility for himself and stops making any excuses is the day he starts his climb to the top.
5. If you make excuses for yourself, you are telling yourself that everything is all right.
6. Utilize whatever physical characteristics YOU Blessed with.
7. No other course exists except to take responsibility for your own destiny.
8. Never let yourself be satisfied

“When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it” Coach Bear Bryant

II. A Leader Must Be Able to Get Along With People

1. A leader has the ability to get along with others both on and off the field.
2. You must have pride in yourself and your teammates.
3. Do more than you thought possible.
4. Work for Group Pride.
5. You will gain what you want with the help and support of others.
6. Cooperation and Respect leads to group success.
7. Respect is an extension of a positive, optimistic attitude.
8. Players with respect for one another win together.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” Henry Ford ”

You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want” Zig Ziglar

III. unity

A. Collective state of mind.
B. Team must be united.

IV. Morale

A. Confidence obtained by players certain in their own minds.

“Confidence does not come out of nowhere. It is a result of something . . . Hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication,” said Roger Staubach.

“What I do is prepare myself until I know I can do what I have to do!’ Joe Namath

“Confidence comes from planning and practicing well. You get ready during the week and the confidence will be there on game day. This confidence is a difficult thing to explain. But you do get it and the team gets it if you have prepared properly.” Vince Lombardi

B. Morale breeds confidence.
Build confidence in the team.

V . Courage

A. A man is courageous when he knows what to do
B. It is easy to be ordinary or mediocre
C. It takes courage to sacrifice, to work long, hard hours when you could be relaxing, to work out when you are tired or sick, to focus on being the best when so many distractions are all around you, to seek out tough competition when you know you might get beaten.
D. Takes courage to be different from the crowd.
E. It is easy to be average, but it is hard to be the best.
F. You all have it. You just do not realize it.

“There is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment” —Norman Vincent Peale

Goal Setting and Leadership – A Key Step in Building a Quality Football Program.

Goal setting is a powerful technique that can yield strong results in all areas of an athletes’ life’s. In its simplest form goal setting helps individuals and teams choose those things they want to do better in life. Some goals will be athletic, some will be academic, some will be career oriented, some will involve family, team or friends and some are spiritual.

After setting goals with players, they must develop a plan to achieve these goals. We must be able to take a serious look at where the plays are currently and what steps need to be taken in order to reach each goal. There are four main steps that will be discussed in helping athletes meet their goals both as individuals and as a team.

They are as follows:
Step 1 – Set Your Goal – (Make it specific, measurable, and attainable)
Step 2 – Categorize Your Goal – (Athletic, academic, career, family, spiritually, etc.)
Step 3 – Reason for Your Goal – (Why do you want to be, do, or have these things?
Step 4 – develop an Action plan – (How are you going to reach this goal?)

Every day, ask yourself these two questions:
1) Am I moving toward my goals or away from them?
2) Is what I am doing making me better or making me worse?

As a team when we meet with the other players we must encourage communication and explore our goal setting process for each of us to work towards set goals. If you do this as an athlete and sincerely put a great effort towards exploring your individual and team goals there will be no doubt that you will become more assertive, focused, confident, experienced and more success than ever before. Turn your dreams into goals and then intentions into actions.

Please take these sessions seriously. After completing your goal planning sessions provide me with a copy. Once you have completed your planning sessions I will sit down with each one individually and review your goals with you.

Use the following pages to goal set your individual and team goals players and young men and women

 

About the Author of this post:

Jerry Campbell has over 30 years of high school and college coaching experience. He has experience as a head coach, offensive coordinator, and various position coaches. He has written numerous football coaching articles in various publications, is the author of over 30 books on coaching football, and has produced 12 coaching video series. Additionally, he is a nationally sought after speaker on the coaching clinic circuit.

The following post was written by Coach Dawn Redd-Kelly and originally published on her coaching blog, Coach Dawn Writes

Coaches ask for a simple, but very hard, thing from our athletes: complete focus for a couple of hours each day. I think this is a difficult mental task for our players to manage…I also think it requires practice. I don’t know if it’s fair of us to ask our players to do these things without giving them the space to practice these mental skills. Here are fourteen ways our athletes can break “focus” down and take control of their mental headspace:

14 powerful ways our teams can build their mental strength

1. Perspective.  A great mental challenge of being on a team is putting the team’s goals first…even when those goals are in opposition to a player’s personal aspirations.
2. Readiness for change. Athletes and coaches have to be nimble, flexible, and adaptable…that’s the only way to beat a savvy opponent.
3. Detachment.  This is a call to not take things personally, but to focus on what they can accomplish, not any perceived slights from the coaching staff.
4. Strength under stress. This one is the name of the game, right? Competition is stressful and, ideally, we’ve equipped our athletes with the tools to manage themselves so that they can shine under the bright lights.
5. Preparation for challenges. No season is without twists and turns, use the good times to prepare for the inevitable downturn.
6. The right attitude toward setbacks. I want my athletes to embrace their personal setbacks, because that means they’ve tried to get better. If they never experience frustration/failure/setbacks, then they’re not pushing hard enough.
7. Self-validation. Many times, I tell my players that only they know how hard they’re working. I can come up with tough workouts, but it’s up to them to make them as challenging as possible. Working hard is a mental exercise and it’s their opportunity to push when perhaps they could get away with not pushing.
8. Patience. Every player on every team at every school wants to win on the first day of practice. Special players and teams have the patience to work every day over the course of a long season.
9. Control.  Is your athlete grumpy because you corrected them in practice? Are they disappointed they’re not playing with the first team? It’s our job as their coach to remind them that they, and only they, are in charge of the attitude they present at practice.
10. Endurance in the face of failure. Quite honestly, our athletes’ goal should be to fail every day. I want my players operating at the outer edges of their ability—where failure is more likely—because I want them to challenge themselves to do what they didn’t think they could do.
11. Unwavering positivity. We have to encourage our players to be a positive light on the team. There is always a Negative Nelly on the team, hopefully our athletes will have the guts to stop them in their tracks.
12. Tenacity.  Never give up. Come in early, stay late…be relentless about getting better.
13. A strong inner compass. This is a great locker room skill. When others may be grumbling, this athlete challenges themselves to do the right thing and support the direction the coach is taking the program.
14. Uncompromising standards. The standard is the standard, regardless of how hot it is, or how many injured players your team has, or how well other teams are doing. Our athletes shouldn’t bring the standard down, but rather rise up to the standard.

What if we challenged our teams to do a few of these each day? What if, when presented with a mental challenge, we reminded our athletes that this was getting them mentally tougher for a future opponent? What if we posted this up wherever we practice so that our teams have a powerful reminder of what is required of them…beyond the skill they’re trying to master? What if we framed our disappointment with their lack of engagement/focus/whatever with an opportunity to be mentally better than our opponent?

Check out this Inc. article, which served as inspiration for this post.

About the Author of this Post

Dawn Redd-Kelly is the head volleyball coach at Beloit College.  Her volleyball teams have earned the best winning percentage in school history.  She has coached at the high school, club, Division I and III levels…taking my first collegiate head coaching job at age 24 with the University of Rochester.  She played volleyball at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Coach Dawn Says: “I believe in the power of sport to teach winning and losing with grace, to inspire its participants to excel, and to create a common goal for the greater good.”