What Sport Has Taught Me About Life
I’ve been an athlete for over twenty years. Nine year old me started playing soccer after ballet was a bust. I traded the leotard for the shin pads happily. Next came ringette and volleyball and I also competed in track and field in elementary school. I learned how to snowboard in my 20s. I took some time to reflect on a few lessons I’ve taken away from sport.
You’ll never know what you can do unless you try.
Some might be surprised to know that I was a very shy kid. I would often respond to questions with one word answers and stare at the ground. I made friends because I was athletically inclined, but I always felt awkward like I didn’t fit in. At a young age my dad asked me if I wanted to try playing soccer. I immediately replied “No!” He said, “Ok well, let’s go to one practice and then you can tell me what you think afterwards.” Much to my chagrin, we went. And I had the best time. The saying ‘don’t knock it ‘til you try it’ applies.
Be present and look for the opportunities to improve.
One of my volleyball coaches along my career once said, “Always look at your coaches in the eye and nod. Even if you aren’t fully paying attention. It shows them you are engaged and ready to participate.” It was the little things like this that would give you an edge over other players. The coaches would remember your attentiveness and willingness to receive feedback. It would foster mutual respect and others would see you as a leader.
Constructive criticism happens on the daily in sport. You were at an advantage if you viewed it as an opportunity to get better. Coaches loved when you would beat them to it and ask for feedback. I continue to ask for feedback to this day, from my peers and clients to constantly be improving.
Visualization is a powerful tool.
When I was 16, I played on a ringette team with a mixed bag of players. On paper we weren’t the most dominant team in the league, but we ended up going undefeated at Provincials that year, earning us the title of Team Ontario and set to represent our province at the National Championship. I was one of the younger players on the team and our captains were passionate and determined. They decided that before each and every game that year, we would sit for 5 minutes in the dressing room and visualize. We pressed play on our boom box and listened to the same songs all season long. They were our team anthems. We sat in silence, eyes closed, and sometimes guided, sometimes not, would visualize ourselves succeeding. We would envision ourselves making awesome plays and cultivating the feelings of winning. I attribute a large part of our success in the playoffs to the accumulation and consistency of this visualization practice.
We are very visual creatures and to this day I practice conjuring images and feelings of how I see my future playing out. Never without a few curveballs, but I’m happy to say things are working out pretty well thus far.
You are only as good as the team around you.
Dedicating time and energy to enriching team culture is never a waste of time. A common thread on the most successful teams I’ve been a part of has been a banding together in pursuit of greatness. And that wasn’t happenstance. It was earned. It’s never a guarantee that everyone will get along, in fact, the odds are usually stacked the other way with such a mixture of personalities. But it’s the intentionality everyone brings to the room that can increase buy-in and cohesiveness. Moral was a priority and even amongst a diverse group of individuals there was an understanding that we could never leave a teammate behind.
We can’t go it alone in this life. We need others. So, assemble a team of humans that will support you, whom you look up to, and who will learn and grow with you. This could be friends, family, neighbours, teammates, coaches etc.
You become what you believe in.
Self-belief is very important. It doesn’t come easily for some folks. It often feels like we’re hardwired for self-doubt. But self-belief is something each of us needs to nurture and water like a plant. Take stock of your thoughts. Are there any patterns? Do you get stuck doubting yourself? Treat your mind like a garden. You reap what you sow. Sprinkle seeds of trust. Water with positive affirmations. And watch as your self-confidence grows.
All of these learnings can apply to other areas of life. I may stop kicking a soccer ball, skating and shooting a ring, and jumping and spiking a volleyball with as much regularity, but I can always practice these 5 things.
