Marion Student-Athletes Learning Leadership Skills

Some Marion High School student-athletes are learning how to be better leaders in order to help their teams on the field of competition and improve the world around them.

About 25 student-athletes from various teams at Marion met weekly this past semester before school to learn about different leadership concepts.

“The morning sessions taught me a new thing every single week on how to be good teammate and player both on and off the field,” said Luke Oliver, who plays both football and soccer.

The student-athlete leadership training was led by Marion’s Director of Athletics Jamy Bechler.   It was a combination of the IHSAA and NAIA’s Champions of Character programs and Bechler’s own ULeadership initiative, which promotes the concept of “Leadership Begins with U.”

Opportunity Knocks

The Oregon Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes will battle Monday night in the first-ever College Football Playoffs Championship Game. Both teams have glaring examples of people who took advantage of opportunities presented to them and didn’t quit or become disruptive to their teams. I will come back to these Bucks and Ducks in a moment.

As a long-time coach and now an athletic director, it pains me every time that I see a student-athlete get disgruntled over playing time or their role on the team. In nearly every case, the player quits. Oh, they might not quit the team and they might not even make a visible show but slowly and surely they cash out mentally. Instead of seeing the opportunity in every challenge, as Winston Churchill used to say, they see the difficulty in every opportunity. Unfortunately instead of persevering, they make excuses and take on a victim-mentality.

Win the Day

As I write this, it is January 1st.  It’s the first day of the new year.  This is a day of new beginnings.  It is a day that gets people thinking about change.   I went to the gym this afternoon for my normal exercise session.  There were a number of new people there that I haven’t seen before.  I think this will become the new normal…at least for a month or so.  New Year’s resolutions abound.  Promises are made.  Commitments are revealed.  The start of a new year is a great time to re-evaluate where you are personally and professionally.  There is no magic to a new year but the perception exists that wonderful things can be accomplished and that we have a clean slate.  It is always good to make long term plans and seek to improve our lives.  However, I think New Year’s resolutions can sometimes be a little daunting.  New beginnings are great but what if our goals are rather large?