One of the players from our 2020 Vermont Shrine Team, who is now a college student, contacted me to do an interview for one of his classes. His assignment was to interview someone who works in athletic administration. The last of his questions was, “what is the most important characteristic and skill needed for a successful career in athletics?” I replied that the most important characteristic is humility. The more successful you are in athletics the more humble you need to be. As wins, championships, and accolades accumulate, hubris and vanity repeatedly try to infiltrate one’s personality. As for the skill, it is communication. You need to be an effective communicator to everyone in your organization. If a coach is going to lead, guide, and direct a team to success he or she must build a culture. Thoughtful and effective communications are imperative.
After the call, I reflected on what my answer would have been if he had asked “what the most important characteristic of a team should be?” The answer is something that we showed in two recent games…Resilience. Resilience is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Psychologists define resilience as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity. In those recent games our teams faced adversity and responded well. Erasing a two touchdown halftime deficit in one, and pulling out a win in the last minute of the other, after trailing the entire game. While we have enjoyed many lopsided wins over the past half a dozen years, our real growth occurred when we have had to overcome adversity. Adversity plays a vital role in growth for teams and individuals.
I often say that helicopter parents who shield their children from adversity are doing them a tremendous disservice. The failure that kids experience in athletics inoculates them against the fear of failure that they will inevitably experience in life. While I do not wish challenging times on anyone, I do recognize the value in the growth of having to overcome those difficulties. Like the events of one’s life, footballs bounce in unexpected ways. As coaches, we must prepare our team for the game, we don’t try to prepare the game for our team.
As we speak about resilience, I would recommend a book that was recently suggested to me by my dear friend and former headmaster. The book is entitled “Resilience.” It is a compilation of the letters Eric Greitens sent to a fellow Navy Seal team member who was struggling with adversity in his life.
Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!
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