Ready or Not
I guess no matter what as a coach you always have a little doubt as to whether or not you have done everything that you could have done to get your team ready. In Beijing, I had a good meltdown prior to our first game with China. I was very nervous and felt like I was going to faint. It was not until I went down on my knees in the locker room and handed it all over to God that I finally felt a comfort of knowing that their was nothing else I could do. I felt a comfort that stayed with me the rest of the tournament.
So here I am on day one finding myself a bit nervous again. In reality, we have had just three weeks together as a team to prepare for this tournament. We have had to balance conditioning and tactics and use our time as wisely as possible. We did our best not to waste any workouts. It feels like we had to rush through a great deal in a short amount of time. So I am a bit more nervous feeling like we have not prepared as well as we could have if we would have had more time. I guess that is the would of, should of, could of - that no one can really afford to get into. Like my Dad taught me years ago – you go out and you give it your best shot and then you should be satisfied. I am confident that our staff has done that. We have done our best to prepare these guys in the amount of time that we had.
In our meetings I have reminded the guys of what we went through last year. I have encouraged them to use that as an anchor – to help them to feel a comfort in knowing that we can do this. We can perform at our best in the biggest stage. We did that last summer and now I am asking them to do that again. That is what tonight is about and that is what this entire tournament is about. Testing yourself and your team to see how far you can go. I know very well and the guys know that if we play our game we will do well. It seems simple. There are many factors that we can not control – like the officials and the crowd and the late busses or the changes in schedules but we can control our play. We must stay together and play as a team - especially on defense. This must be the heart of our team. Our team goal is to give up 6 goals or less per game in this tournament. We all know that we can do that. It is a realistic goal – we must play to win every possession. We must shot block in the field and give Merrill some help. I am excited.
Over the past few weeks we have developed our own set of standards. These are not team rules but they are standards on how we want to live and how we want to play. Game time is the biggest test of these standards. We must hold each other accountable for what we (the players) have come up with as their championship standards. Right now it is on paper - but our actions will be the biggest litmus test to how well we play by these standards. If we stick together and stick to these we will do very well here. There is no question in my mind. Here are a few of the standards that we have set for ourselves.
• No excuses – we have what it takes to win.
• Great Defense – no one wants to play against us because the way we play defense.
• Sacrifice – the team wins not the individual
• Care – we have each other’s back
• Family – no one is closer
This is a sampling of what the guys put on paper as their “championship standards”. Like I said, if we play this way everything will be fine. In a few short hours we will find out how ready we are. For me – I think that this blog as helped to alleviate some of the stress of being a coach. It allows me to tell our story and let it go. I am confident that we will do well but don’t think for one second that I won’t say my prayers again today and ask God to guide us through another fun adventure. It is time to create a new chapter in this book of life. Do we have it in us to become world champions or even win a medal? We will all find out over the next couple of weeks. I am looking forward to the tournament getting started. Buckle your seatbelt and hang on because I believe it will be a great adventure.
See you at the pool.
Coach
P.S. Todays game is being televised on universalsports.com @ 11:35
So here I am on day one finding myself a bit nervous again. In reality, we have had just three weeks together as a team to prepare for this tournament. We have had to balance conditioning and tactics and use our time as wisely as possible. We did our best not to waste any workouts. It feels like we had to rush through a great deal in a short amount of time. So I am a bit more nervous feeling like we have not prepared as well as we could have if we would have had more time. I guess that is the would of, should of, could of - that no one can really afford to get into. Like my Dad taught me years ago – you go out and you give it your best shot and then you should be satisfied. I am confident that our staff has done that. We have done our best to prepare these guys in the amount of time that we had.
In our meetings I have reminded the guys of what we went through last year. I have encouraged them to use that as an anchor – to help them to feel a comfort in knowing that we can do this. We can perform at our best in the biggest stage. We did that last summer and now I am asking them to do that again. That is what tonight is about and that is what this entire tournament is about. Testing yourself and your team to see how far you can go. I know very well and the guys know that if we play our game we will do well. It seems simple. There are many factors that we can not control – like the officials and the crowd and the late busses or the changes in schedules but we can control our play. We must stay together and play as a team - especially on defense. This must be the heart of our team. Our team goal is to give up 6 goals or less per game in this tournament. We all know that we can do that. It is a realistic goal – we must play to win every possession. We must shot block in the field and give Merrill some help. I am excited.
Over the past few weeks we have developed our own set of standards. These are not team rules but they are standards on how we want to live and how we want to play. Game time is the biggest test of these standards. We must hold each other accountable for what we (the players) have come up with as their championship standards. Right now it is on paper - but our actions will be the biggest litmus test to how well we play by these standards. If we stick together and stick to these we will do very well here. There is no question in my mind. Here are a few of the standards that we have set for ourselves.
• No excuses – we have what it takes to win.
• Great Defense – no one wants to play against us because the way we play defense.
• Sacrifice – the team wins not the individual
• Care – we have each other’s back
• Family – no one is closer
This is a sampling of what the guys put on paper as their “championship standards”. Like I said, if we play this way everything will be fine. In a few short hours we will find out how ready we are. For me – I think that this blog as helped to alleviate some of the stress of being a coach. It allows me to tell our story and let it go. I am confident that we will do well but don’t think for one second that I won’t say my prayers again today and ask God to guide us through another fun adventure. It is time to create a new chapter in this book of life. Do we have it in us to become world champions or even win a medal? We will all find out over the next couple of weeks. I am looking forward to the tournament getting started. Buckle your seatbelt and hang on because I believe it will be a great adventure.
See you at the pool.
Coach
P.S. Todays game is being televised on universalsports.com @ 11:35
posted by Dr. Terry Schroeder at
9:00 AM
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