Winning Culture: #3 "It Don't Come Easy"

The Beatles classic, “It Don’t Come Easy,” captures an essence of competition. Once players/teams have established their vision and are firm in their commitment, they must realize that it is not going to be easy. Competition is tough.

It is easy for a player and/or a parent to mistakenly feel desire automatically produces success. Just because we want it doesn’t mean it is going to happen. Other teams are just as focused on success, and maybe just as committed. Quite simply, many teams are competing for the same goals- not every team is going to win.

On our own team, many players have the vision of playing regularly or of starting. Obviously if ten players have a vision of being a starter, not all of the ten will reach their goal. It is competitive- it is tough.

A tough hurdle for some is when they have great success in youth sports or in junior high. In some cases their competition may not be great, and in other cases they may have matured before others. This early success can lead a player to feel like it is going to be easy. These players and their parents can fall into the trap of thinking it will be easy. 

Years ago, a junior high boys team did very well in the IESA tourney. I was listening to the conversation between two of the incoming freshmen from that team. One player was saying how they would probably win state as senior, and the other said maybe they would win state both their junior and senior years. I interrupted to ask, “How did Peoria Manual and Simeon do in the IESA Tourney this year?” They responded that neither was in the tourney. The message I was trying to send was that it is going to be a lot tougher in high school. 

To have a winning culture, players must recognize it is not going to be easy- it is going to be tough. 
Improvement is tough.
Winning is tough.
Good practices are tough.
Developing team chemistry is tough.
Dealing with losses is tough.
Not playing is tough.
Dealing with bad ref calls is tough.

Players need to grasp- “It Don’t Come Easy.” If it did come easy- everyone would be winners.  Once players recognize that success is tough then they will realize a winning culture is going to require:

Hard work- the competition on each level is going to be tougher than on the last level. You have to work harder than you have before. As players move up to a varsity level and onto college, they need to realize they must work harder and longer. Success comes from the willingness to do the extras. What was good enough to succeed in JH or early in HS is no longer going to get the job done. 

Persistence- Because it is not going to be easy, you need to be tough. You are going to face success and face failure. You need to be tough, and you need to just keep on going.