By: JC Moreau, Founder/Director of Sports Performance, Strength U
“Accept the challenges so you can feel the exhilaration of Victory!”
~Gen. George S. Patton
One of our primary responsibilities as a strength and conditioning professionals is to find ways to get athletes and complete teams out of their comfort zone. It is not until you push through your perceived mental and physical barriers that you are truly able to make significant progress as an individual and a team. Gen. Patton’s quote is so fitting in this case because it can be used to describe the journey of every single student-athlete.
To compete at a high level of athletics there will be countless challenges and obstacles standing in your way. Winning in any form is sweet, but when you have truly sacrificed your entire being to overcome, what was once, an insurmountable obstacle, then you can feel the purest and most exhilarating form of joy and achievement from victory!
This 2008 University of Iowa Women’s Basketball team embraced the adversity and struggles they faced and pushed on. However, they went a step further and worked harder than they ever had, sacrificed, suffered, battled, were knocked down, got back up, and each time they stepped up and pushed even harder! In the end a team that no-one saw as a post-season team in December, was far greater. They were Big Ten Champs, and I still cherish the memory of this group because of the incredible resilience and toughness they displayed.