Appreciation As A Difference Maker

I will never forget my toughest coach. He was my best coach, but he was the toughest.

It was all about life lessons, grit, mental toughness, growth mindset, get better everyday, etc.

He had high expectation, he had a clear vision on what he wanted, and he payed attention to every detail.

We won; a lot. We finished as a top 10 team in the country. A lot of it was because of how much and how hard he pushed us.

But what really put us over the top and took us from a good team to a top 10 team in the country came during our conference tournament at the end of the year.

We knew coach cared about us, but he never said it. He never really told us that he appreciated us, so it could be a cold environment at times.

Before the start of our tournament, he pulled the leaders aside and told us how much he cared about us, how thankful he was for everything that he had done for him and the program, and how proud of us he was.

That meant the world to us, and we went on to win the tournament.

I believe that he prepared us to have success in the tournament with everything that we did throughout the season, but that final conversation was the difference maker.

You can't have a championship level team without high expectations, talent, and work ethic. You have to push your team to get them most out of them. But true, honest appreciation is a difference maker.

It think it is the same as a parent and a spouse. I can be very tough on my own kids. Sometimes I realize that I can be tougher on them than the love that I show.

When I find myself pushing my kids too hard, I try to take a step back and just tell them how much I love them, that I am proud of them, and that I love watching them play.

Mamba Mentality is great. We should all strive to get better daily if we want to be the best thag we can be. But we have to have gratitude and appreciation for our athletes if we want to get to the next level.