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From the desk of Wally Dawkins, Athletic Director:

I ran into Chad Morris this morning.聽 Chad just concluded his first year as the new Head Football Coach at SMU after serving as the Offensive Coordinator at Clemson for the past several years. I asked Chad a question concerning high school athletes and NCAA Division-I quality athletes. My question to Chad was simply this; 鈥淲hat is the one quality other than physical ability that separates D-1 Athletes from others.

Chad didn鈥檛 have to think long before he answered. 鈥淭he top NCAA D-I athletes have the mentality that they never quit.聽 They refuse to lose.聽 They just will not stop fighting to win鈥�.

鈥沦罢滨颁碍-罢翱-滨罢-罢滨痴贰-狈贰厂厂鈥�!

I had never heard that word, nor did I realize that my wife Laurie thought I possessed this quality until after we had been married a few years.聽 As most coaches do, I worked odd jobs in the summer and eventually started a lawn maintenance business in Tyler when I coached at Chapel Hill.聽 I employed 2 high school students to help me and on one particular Friday, both called in sick.

What that meant for me was that I would be flying solo that day.聽 I mowed, edged, swept, etc. until I had finished all of the yards that were on the schedule for that day.

All eight of them.

When I returned home that evening and told her I had finished all eight by myself she said, 鈥淲ally鈥�you have stick-to-it-tiv-ness鈥�.

I never knew I had it鈥�but I knew where I got it. My dad鈥�Air Force Sargent, taught me at an early age the meaning of not stopping until the job was done.聽 He desperately wanted me to be a major league baseball player.聽 He would hit me fly balls for hours鈥�until his hands were bloody, so I would get the number of repetitions he thought I needed to become a center fielder on a MLB team.聽 Of course that didn鈥檛 happen, but he showed me what it took to even have a chance.

I remember one day planting a tree in Abilene, Texas in our front yard on what was the coldest Saturday of the year in late January, in the middle of a snow storm to boot.聽 At his insistence (everybody knows January is the best time of year to plant a tree鈥�right?) my dad and I went outside and for three hours, we were digging the exactly right size hole, cutting through frozen earth and roots, fertilizing, mulching, watering鈥� doing everything just right until that tree was in the ground.

Perfectly!

I think what Chad Morris told me about the quality associated with successful D-I athletes and stick-to-it-tiv-ness are the same thing. In our society today, most people don鈥檛 appreciate the benefits of hard work, while instead seeking instant gratification鈥�and they want it now. 鈥淲in Now鈥� is a popular slogan in the sports world today, and I believe our culture has bought into this idea that winning immediately, both personally and professionally, is the path to choose.

I choose to see things a little differently. I do think there is value in failure.聽 Though unpleasant, it teaches you to work harder. I see the benefit of falling short.聽 Somewhat painful at times, coming up short can cause you to re-evaluate what you鈥檙e doing and make changes that may produce a more positive effect. I understand the worth of being denied your goal.聽 This can be gut wrenching, but it also gives you more resolve to try to be successful the next time.

Here鈥檚 the tough one:聽 I recognize the importance of losing.聽 Not only does it cause you to appreciate winning more, it can help identify your weaknesses that you can strengthen for future battles.聽 (*Note;聽 When I was at Whitehouse, I would play John Tyler every year, hardly ever winning, but it was a great measuring stick to show us 鈥渨here we were not鈥�!)

As coaches and parents, I believe it is unbelievably important to teach our children and athletes these concepts that though 鈥渇ailure is not an option鈥�, it is however鈥�a reality.

Too many times we want our children and players to only achieve success鈥�every time鈥�all the time, and if they do not, someone or something else is too blame.

At Brook Hill, it is obvious that our coaches value and appreciate winning due to the success we have enjoyed in almost every sport. However, if you will dig deeper, you will also discover that the Brook Hill Coaching Staff believes in the age old concept that participating in athletics can and will prepare you for the game of life.

Life means that sometimes you lose鈥�occasionally you will get knocked down鈥�you don鈥檛 always get what you want鈥�and sometime, you just fall short. When those things happen鈥�speak to it as a learning tool.聽 Allow your athlete and child to grow from it. Instill in them what Chad Morris answered with by encouraging a 鈥渞efuse to lose/never quit/fight to win鈥� attitude.

Teach 鈥淪TICK-TO-IT-TIV-NESS鈥�.

And that鈥檚 another reason to be 鈥淎LL ORANGE鈥濃��All The Time!