Wanting to Win

I always think in terms of lists. I keep list on my door. I keep lists in my office, den at home, car, ... I am always reading them to remind myself of what I am going to achieve. Here is a list from my baseball days and it is on developing a successful program:

1. Everyone gives lip service saying that they hate to lose. We model what we preach!
2. Coaches – Must have same work habits, desire, philosophy, knowledge (or effort to learn). Get coaches you love to be around.
3. Discipline – Be tough. If you don’t have discipline you will never achieve next level of competition. (State)(Good Cop/Bad Cop!)
4. Sports Complex – Must come from work of coaches, players, parents, administration, and community. Everyone has something invested in it.
5. Kids – Demand that the kids act right – in the classroom, in the hallways – on the field and how they talk/treat their parents.
6. Schedule – 1/3 hard or better than you, 1/3 equal to you, & 1/3 you will beat. (1/3 you will beat will give you a chance to get other kids varsity experience.
7. Equipment – always bust your butt to make sure your players have the best equipment around.
8. Success breeds success. Success at the varsity level means success at lower levels and therefore, kids accustomed to winning.
9. Sacrifice – show kids willing to stay late – won’t ask them anything you won’t do.
10. Honesty – demand it – give it. . Don’t lie to your kids!
11. Clinic – Get the community involved in getting their kids there. Have the players be the instructors. They will learn how to play because they are forced to think!
12. Team selection – Coach puts kids into positions and not just where they played in little league. Cut borderline kids. Keep inspirational kids. Always have a spot for a bullpen catcher.
13. Field – get it ready to play in rain etc. Every player must sacrifice for game.
14. Guts – be a decision maker and go down how you chose. Don’t back off.
15. Play lower level kids to give them a look. Also, at end of the year, bring up lower level kids to help for the run at state. This gives the varsity players more time to get repetitions.
16. College contacts – get them interested in your kids.
17. Get Help – Community – shop teachers – administration – don’t be afraid to ask.
18. Media – get your kids in the newspaper – pictures, get TV station to come over. Get on St. Louis Post Dispatch Nomination Board.
19. Create a program for the kids – Must maintain interest of Grade school kids!!!
20. Shirts – Get them out in public. Give shakers and bakers shirts to wear.
21. Give your seniors something special.
22. Banquet/picnic – Make it highlight for Seniors but be sure to include all. Recognize special people and get the media there.
23. Parents – compliment those parents that met criteria you set for parents.
24. Player talks – peanuts, pizza, etc. sit down and talk to them for a few minutes away from competition.
25. Praise/abuse – this is for players and coaches. For players never let abusive situations exist. For coaches, buy them things and praise them. A head coach will be upset with assistant coaches at times. It goes both ways. Always remember you and your assistant coaches are in this for the kids and it is not an ego trip.

John Wooden on the difference between winning and succeeding:

John Wooden: The difference between winning and succeeding | Video on TED.com

Keep in mind, he's one of the most successful coaches in history. It's about so much more than winning.

I love that video!! DD and I have watched it many times together. Another set of really good videos are those by Sue Enquist. In fact they are DD's favorites. After watching them she said she never wanted to be a "B3" again.
[video=youtube_share;SXQ2MdlwHrI]http://youtu.be/SXQ2MdlwHrI[/video]

Onegameonelove12 said:

John Wooden on the difference between winning and succeeding:

John Wooden: The difference between winning and succeeding | Video on TED.com

Keep in mind, he's one of the most successful coaches in history. It's about so much more than winning.

Click to expand...

I like to focus on the process and keep results out of it. I teach my girls and my teams that if you take care of the process (focus, effort, trying to always be better than you were yesterday-last play etc.) then the results take care of themselves. This is what I have done throughout my life (with many slip ups along the way) and what I believe leads to success on and off the field. It's simplistic, but it has a good effect and I think it breeds better work ethic and long term success than focusing on winning as the main goal. The problem with focusing on results vs. process is that I think the wrong personality type will use this to justifying taking shortcuts and justifying the means they use to win and this is not always healthy.

softball_mom#7 said:

I love that video!! DD and I have watched it many times together. Another set of really good videos are those by Sue Enquist. In fact they are DD's favorites. After watching them she said she never wanted to be a "B3" again.
[video=youtube_share;SXQ2MdlwHrI]http://youtu.be/SXQ2MdlwHrI[/video]

Click to expand...

Great Video, I'm such a fan of Sue and all that she stands for. If you ever have the opportunity to see "between the white lines", do it. It's a documentary that follows her as a coach at UCLA through one of the seasons where they took 2nd in the World Series. It's hard to find, but it's a great video!

JJsqueeze said:

I like to focus on the process and keep results out of it. I teach my girls and my teams that if you take care of the process (focus, effort, trying to always be better than you were yesterday-last play etc.) then the results take care of themselves. This is what I have done throughout my life (with many slip ups along the way) and what I believe leads to success on and off the field. It's simplistic, but it has a good effect and I think it breeds better work ethic and long term success than focusing on winning as the main goal. The problem with focusing on results vs. process is that I think the wrong personality type will use this to justifying taking shortcuts and justifying the means they use to win and this is not always healthy.

Click to expand...

I believe that there needs to be an ultimate purpose for the process. Winning the game is not the focus as they are hitting the ball or fielding the ground ball, it is the "big picture" reason for the hard work and preparation prior to and during the game(s).

When the process becomes the goal, individual players are formed and the team concept is broken.

There has to be a reason, (bigger than the players), for the action the players are taking. There has to be a reason for the process if you want the players to truly learn how to play the game and recognize the little things that it takes to win a game.

The little things that are not in the statistics. The little things that can only be recognized when winning the game is the goal.

SCDad said:

Sounds nice and fluffy, but misses THE MOST important part of what is needed to win.

Wanting to win means you, as a player, will have to sacrifice something.

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If it feels like a sacrifice, it's a sacrifice. If it feels like you are doing what it takes to win, the word sacrifice never enters the discussion.

SCDad said:

I do not have a clue how to coach a championship team.

As a parent having had the pleasure of watching my DD on four different occasions leave the season as champions with no one else standing, it comes down to everyone, players and parents, doing everything in their individual power to get along and be happy. No drama. If drama starts, someone outside of the coaches resolve it. It becomes like a family.

No Drama. Listen to the coaches. Do what they say. Be honored for what is given, and proud of the team.

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I think it comes down to two things... (1) A common goal, (to win) and (2) the least amount of distractions (both on and off the field) when trying to achieve it.

Jim said:

When the process becomes the goal, individual players are formed and the team concept is broken.

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I don't think describing the process as the goal is quite accurate. It is the focus, meaning it is the thing that is to be paid attention to etc. during training and practice. The goal would be to develop young athletes that understand, and do, what it takes to be the best they can be. To be sure, winning is a natural byproduct of this, and anyone who cares about playing a sport wants to win and is competitive by nature.

I also don't think a team concept is hurt at all by players wanting to improve themselves with a goal of being the best they can be since being the best you can be involves being a good teammate, being responsible, respectful of yourself-others-the game. It is really just a general mindset I believe is the most beneficial in the long run and leads to the most success. I am a hyper competitive person, I want to win everything, all the time. I never needed anyone to tell me that winning was the goal. I did need a series of people over the course of my life to help me channel this drive in a way that allowed me to put myself in a position to be able to allow the competitiveness to flourish (ie win).