I’ll admit it: I spend a LOT of time watching the NCAA basketball tournaments (mostly the men). I can’t get over the quality of the play, the high level of skill, the speed of the game. Do you watch this tournament? How can you not love it? I mean
come on people, these are
kids playing high pressure ball (and, just for the sake of fun, let’s not get into the money-making machine that is Div. I basketball…the players didn’t make it this way). Can you imagine what it takes to become part of a team like that? The dedication? The hours on the court and in the weight room? And then, to win it all, go on a seven game winning streak with millions of people watching?
But here’s my question (and trust me as a Div. III coach from a very small school, I spend a lot of time thinking about it): are competitors born or made?
Coming from a family of competitors, I’m tempted to say they are born. And I’ve pretty much surrounded myself with friends who are competitive, although not always in the sports realm. So although I’ve read about people, hitherto non-competitive individuals, who get turned onto a sport and find a killer instinct, I think they are a rare and special breed and I don’t know any.
How does a coach (me) turn non-competitors (the majority of the athletes I've coached so far) into competitors? Or am I attempting the impossible? Where do all of the fabulous athletes in this tournament - and the great athletes who never get this kind of exposure - get their competitiveness from?
Coming from a family of competitors, I’m tempted to say they are born. And I’ve pretty much surrounded myself with friends who are competitive, although not always in the sports realm. So although I’ve read about people, hitherto non-competitive individuals, who get turned onto a sport and find a killer instinct, I think they are a rare and special breed and I don’t know any.
