I’m not sure what the name of this blog should be called. It’s just a mixture of several thoughts that I have had lately.

I was reflecting back on my upbringing and how much my parents encouraged and pushed me in my career.

I remember my dad always telling me,”your good but not that good.” And he would say ” I’ll tell you when you have made it.”

That encouraged me so much to strive to be the best I could. But it wasn’t in a way that I felt unworthy or not good enough. It did just the opposite- it humbled me

He didn’t allow me to get too high or get too low. All I can remember Is- hard work that’s what playing for my dad was all about.

It wasn’t about getting my name in the paper or having the most patches on my letterman jacket. It was about competing! Truly playing for the love of the game.

I remember my Sophomore year in college being asked to try out for the Olympic team. ” Are you kidding me?” The Olympics. I had no idea that was even possible for me. But that’s not why I played the game of softball. I played because I truly loved it.

The countless hours of hard work that I put in at the cages, the sprints, weights, practices, breaking down my swing in the mirror. This is the training that nobody got to see. The times when it was just me, my bat, balls and a tee.

I feel that thats not the case for some athletes anymore. I feel like we all want to get to the finish line without going through the course. Without the presence of a reward we have an absence of hard work.

We have lost our competitive edge in sports. We no longer know how to fight for what we have worked hard for but in essence, have we really worked hard for it? Because of the lack thereof we so easily allow things to fall from our grasp. It’s hard for the athletes to ” dig deep” for something that was never there. So they walk away with a loss on the scoreboard but not a loss in pride.

Yes we love our kids, yes we pick them up when they are down but NO do we allow them to fail and tell them that it’s ok. We tell them to pick themselves up and then do it again. We cannot make it easy for them to walk away. A wise friend once told me ” we make the wrong choice hard and the right choice easy.” We can’t let kids off the hook.

Because as coaches we are preparing them for life! Not just sports. We have to give them the tools to win on the field and in life.

Yes I understand that times are changing and we have to adapt but for me some principles have to stay the same. I MUST be and example for my kids I take that very seriously. I will NOT tolerate disrespect at any time and I DEMAND that they give the maximum effort everyday. I will not settle. I will not let them off the hook.

Some may say I’m a little hard core and maybe a little ol fashion and I have learned to be ok with that because I love my girls just as hard.

I have tried to be lenient and loosen up but I have found that is not who I am. That’s not how I gained a successful career so why would I allow myself to coach less than who I am or better yet against what I believe.

My coaching attitude and energy must match who I am in order for me to be consistent and to get results. I can’t coach sub par. I coach hard and with energy and that’s the only way I know how. Thats the only ME I know.