Change is Good!

On Saturday night I dressed up as a good friend of mine putting on a dress with full accessories of matching earrings, bracelets, a necklace, five inch heels and then went the entire enchilada wearing make-up and pink nail polish. For those of you who don't know me that was a long stretch from who I normally am. My normal attire consists of sweats and t-shirts and occasional jeans. If I get really dressed up, I put on a nice pant suit and a shirt which I pray matches.

The only reason I mention the above is to illustrate how quickly change can occur if one has the desire. This is exactly what the Golden Eagles did on Sunday in our second scrimmage. In just a matter of five days, we shifted from a team who did not comprehend what help side defense was to a team who shut down an opponent. It was an amazing transformation--one that even I had did not expect.

On the very first team meeting, I told them there were two necessary ingredients to creating success. One was the willingness to learn and the other was the willingness to change. Many players want to keep doing the same thing and expect different results which is by the way the definition of insanity. This team, however, understands the need to change and to do it rapidly.

In order to prepare for our scrimmage on Sunday, we prepared differently. Coach Pike took the time to watch the game DVD with small groups of players, pointing out how they performed--the difference between what we wanted from them and what they were doing. We broke down the opponent's offense and worked on defending their pick on balls. We presented a scouting report depicting how to defend their plays and players. We walked through all of their out-of-bounds plays and offensive sets, taking the time to specifically coach the team on exactly how to defend each movement.

This was a lot of information in a short amount of time, yet the team swallowed it, let it digest and then spit it back it back out as if they had been doing these techniques for years. Oh, I know it was only a scrimmage but the implications of how quickly they learned and wanted to do better is the reason I'm so excited. If they are willing to change and grow, great things can happen.

When a victory occurs like that and I'm not simply talking about the scoreboard but the process of change, something goes off inside the team. It is a realization or recognition of potential, of the ability of greatness within themselves. This is what changes players--their belief systems. As much as we try to tell them they can do something, they have to internally believe it and once it becomes a belief, then they show their true talents.

In a matter of a five days we altered who we were. Granted we still have a long journey in front of us, but the future appears bright for players who are committed to learning.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.