We can't all make it to the top. We can't always have great players. We can only do the best we can with what we have, both with our teaching abilities and with the players we have to work with. However, that shouldn't be a crutch for coaches to prop themselves up with when the wins are fewer than the losses. Sure, lots of us remain in situations for the love of what we do, where we are good coaches in programs that will never be at the top. But, this is where the real challenge lies--are we losers because we don't win? Are the players losers who play on a team that just doesn't have the talent to go the distance versus the more talented? We have to look at the players and communities we serve and know we really are doing the best we can do at teaching the game where the talent pool just isn't there. If we focus on being the best we can be--on teaching and preparing our players to play at the best of their abilities and guiding them to be good young men and women--we win. If we have instilled this same focus within the spirit of our players, then they too win. Coach John Wooden has been quoted often to the effect, saying, "We have no control over how good the other players are or over how well they are prepared. We do have control over how well we prepare, and if we've done our best, even in a losing effort, we have still won."
Now is the time to take stock of your coaching preparation. Are you ready to improve your teaching game? Go to coaching clinics, workshops, and take college coaching courses. Get books and DVDs to help take your game to a higher level. While you are getting your teaching skills "in shape", don't forget the mental and spiritual preparation it will take in order for you to get to a higher level of teaching and to enable you to better guide your players to their own higher levels.
