ARE YOU A COMPETITOR?

Real competitors are hard to find.   Legendary Coach, John Wooden, once said that “If you have one competitor on your squad you will be successful.  If you have two you will be competing for the conference title and with three a national title.”  He had no idea what four or five competitors on a single team would be like since he had never witnessed it.

Real competitors view adversity as a challenge not as a detriment.   In trying situations, they compete and work hard to over come it rather than get frustrated or angry.  Michael Jordan is a classic example of a real competitor.  He competed every night despite the fact that he was facing the opponent’s best defenders, double teams and even triple teams.  Despite constantly being held and grabbed, pushed and shoved, he rarely ever complained to the officials or lost control of his actions.  Instead he accepted the challenge and was more motivated to succeed.  When Jordan stepped on the court he was bound and determined to be successful no matter what the opponents threw at him.

Competitors are “Erasers.”  After bad calls or turnovers, rather than griping or complaining, they hustle back on defense to make a defense stop.  They are fully aware of the fact that the only turnovers that hurt a team are the ones upon which the opponent scores.  If/when the opponent does not score after a turnover then, no matter how bad, that turnover is erased!

Competitors don’t have to look at the score board to know the score.   Winning is certainly important, but how it is achieved is more important.  To them the most satisfaction and pleasure comes in playing the game, not with the final game score.  They know that when they are passing, shooting, rebounding and playing solid defense well, the scoreboard will take care of itself.  They play every play in a game as if it was the last play of the game. After the game, regardless of the score, they are satisfied because they gave it their best effort. 

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