Why is it important to get up for a 6:30 am practice session? You are not on an athletic scholarship. Why is it important to make a two hour practice more valuable than a four hour one? As a coach I can preach the many values of these things. I can talk about levels of understanding and learning. All of that pales in comparison to the real reason: Because we want to. (More below photos)
It's easy to say that you don't like getting up at the crack of dawn to run around when your body and mind aren't awake. Often it's cold outside and you would rather be in bed asleep. Oftentimes, you didn't get to sleep early or at all the night before and your body is rejecting the idea of such practice. Why would you want to do this? It’s easy not to like something, or to come up with a list of things that you hate, reasons or excuses. It’s easy to decide to sleep in. It’s easy to decide that you are not good at sprints, or distance running. It’s an easy answer to say that you are a head case; to reason that you’ve always had potential, and that that in itself, is enough. This isn’t about suffering, or penance. This is not about atoning for one's mistakes. You are all out there, struggling and striving, because it is a conscious choice you have made.
There are no athletic scholarships here. This is not your job, this is your passion. You work hard because you know of no other way. You work hard because the payoff is greater than money. Because for four short years, you will know what it is like to pursue potential until you obliterate it and you no longer know what it feels like to say “I could have been...” You work hard because in four short years you will be in possession of some incredible moments and memories. You work hard and you show up and you struggle and you strive because you have learned to appreciate it and love it. You do it because you can learn more about yourself and your world and your potential by running, hitting, side by side with your kin, as the sun rises and sets over the tennis courts.
Every day brings new awareness and the realizations that most of your limitations are self-imposed; that most of your goals rest on clouds and shaky ground. This is about learning your limitations and your possibilities, and how to set and achieve goals, both collective and individual. In the process, you have learned to be a leader. To let your actions mirror your words, and vice versa. You have learned to be a friend. You have done these things because you want to. You have become the person you are because you have decided to. You have been chosen, but more importantly, you have made a choice.
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