GameChange co-founder, USC quarterback Paul McDonald, confers on the sideline with Coach John Robinson during a 1979 game.
Photo by Heinz Kluetmeier /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images
It’s another practice in a long season and many of your teammates have started working less and goofing around more. You love your guys and you don’t want to be the killjoy, but you want to get better. What do you do?
This exact subject came up during a GameChange YouTube podcast featuring the company’s co-founders, Paul McDonald and Jack Baric. McDonald, a former USC All-American and NFL quarterback, said, “We want to be liked. We want to have our posse. We want to have our people.” Baric replied, “So joking around, being funny becomes the thing.”
The competing interest of wanting to fit in with the guys, but also having goals for yourself and the team to get better can create a stressful challenge. What can student athletes do that allows them to have a circle of friends that they fit in with while continuing to work hard to meet the goals that they have set for themselves?
Pick Your Team
An important thing that young people who want to be the best that they can be must learn is that no person is an island. Nobody who reached the pinnacle of their sport or career did it alone. They all had help along the way. This is made abundantly clear when you play on a team. You might do everything in your power to be the best, but if half the team is not interested in giving it their all, the chances of hoisting a championship trophy are slim.
You cannot control what others do or think, but you can control who you associate with. During those moments when half the team is goofing off at practice you can choose to align yourself with your teammates who are working hard. This can and should bleed over into the rest of your life by choosing friends who will support you in your goals, and conversely, you will support them in theirs. Pick your team wisely because it could be the difference between succeeding or later lamenting what could have been.
Be A Leader
Championship culture is a buzzword that you hear a lot about teams that have won titles and it easy to assume that creating a great culture is done entirely by the coach. However, ask most coaches and they will tell you that good teams are coach led, but great ones are led by the players. To create a great culture, it is important that every player on the team buys into the goals and the process to get there. McDonald said, “You want to have everyone on the same page. You don’t want to have pockets of people.”
So, what do you do if there are pockets of people who prefer goofing off to practicing hard? McDonald explained, “That’s leadership. Not the coaches. The coaches are gonna say what they’re gonna say, but players can then tune them out. But you need to have the stud players setting the bar.”
Leadership starts with leading by example. If your teammates not working hard see that you and your group are busting butt on every rep they will more likely to start following suit. And, if they don’t, your hard work has earned you the right to call them out. Be a leader!
