I was sent an article about a famous european basketball coach Ettora Messina which I think has some messages for all young sports people who are in our schools. I don’t know about what other teachers who are coaches are finding but I have lots of youth who watch CNN or Fox Sports and think they can just play like the stars on TV and won’t be told about the fundamentals – we already know this????? Well here is a message….
Like a true coach, he tried to get the prospects to understand how important it is for young players to listen to instructions and immediately internalize them, so they would not have to be told the same things over and over again.
He finished up with a stern warning that prospects of every nationality should hear and internalize-“This is an extremely important time in your career right now…Your coaches will tell you things once, twice, and then the third time, if it keeps going in one ear and out the other, they will give up. You are like Angelina Jolie right now, everyone wants you, and everyone wants to help you get better, but if you don’t listen and won’t continue to work on your game, after a few years, they will find someone else. They won’t send you flowers, and they won’t call you.” It’s extremely important for players to hear this from someone like Messina, as they very rarely realize how quickly the hype around them will die down if they don’t improve on their weaknesses.
