It was a long day and some of my older swimmers started to become negative. I heard complaints and tried to ignore them but I knew that their words were being heard by the entire team and there were little ears taking note of their attitude. I was too busy to sit them down at that moment and once I was finally able to complete my duties as a coach, they were all long gone. So instead of just forgetting about their comments, I sent a group message out with this,
"Good job this weekend at the meet ladies. There was one thing I wanted to say to all of you though. Where your mind goes, your heart will follow. What I mean by that is the things that come from your mouth will shape how you preform. I was catching up on my twitter feed and saw this quote. 'My responsibility is leadership, and the minute I get negative, this is going to have an influence on my team.' This weekend I say many of you talking about how tired you were, how your swim was going to suck, and how you didn't want to be there. If you get on the block with that attitude you might as well not swim. You've already defeated yourself and you're right, you are going to suck. Just because this ins't high school state doesn't mean you don't get focused and swim your best. You also are the leaders of this team. Everyone looks at you. If you're being negative then the younger ones are going to be as well. Remember what you are blessed with. I don't want you to think I'm ridiculing you. I just want you to realize you carry so much influence on this team. If you can't do that then don't come, but as long as you're going to be there you might as well have a positive attitude for your team and yourselves. Remember I love you."
I followed up it with a link: Passion = Compete4Christ.
I got a few replies with thank you's for the message, but that wasn't what I was aiming for. I just wanted them to hear it. I wanted them to realize the force they were on this team. They could be mad at me all they wanted as long as they heard me. Actually, I'd like a few of them upset because that meant they didn't know how their words affected others. And the fact is, I'm a coach. My job isn't to make them happy all of the time. My job is to push them farther than they could ever think was possible. My job is to create something in them that goes beyond the borders of their mind. I know what all of them are capable of. The reason I know that is because I was coached by men and women who pushed me. They pushed me to my breaking point, but I never broke. I just got stronger, wiser, better. Sometimes it came from tender words and sometimes it came from harsh realities. I'll say this though, those harsh realities were what taught me the most. They are what changed my habits.
So the blessing wasn't in hearing the positive feedback, it was getting the chance to teach, to coach. Was the blessing doubled when a few of them responded positively? Yes, because now I know I'll have a few keeping the others responsible for their words and actions. My goal is to make this team's driving force love. Love for the sport, love for others, love for themselves, and the most important, love for Christ. I continually pray God gives me the ability to do just that and that I'm able to take this team and change the way they see the world and their lives.
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