Picture this: It is 12:45ish pm on a Saturday afternoon in the late spring of 2010. I get a call from my teammate, K Wade, and she explains to me that there was an unfortunate event with the state regulators and our high school is now prohibited from competing in postseason events for an entire year. To make things worse, we were slated to make another state appearance, we were hungry for the title, AND we had all returning (senior) starters.
After I got over my anger (still pretty upset), I thought “Why even have a season if we don’t have a chance to win state?” That question was answered on the first day of practice when our Coach, Carmen Hochevar, put us in check real quick. She told us that we were going to train just as hard and compete even harder than before, despite not being able to compete for the most sought after award in high school athletics. The “but why?” question was written all over our faces and she simply replied with “Because we play for the love of the game.”
Love: The object of attachment, devotion, or admiration.
Let’s talk a little bit about “attachment.” I don’t know if it is just me, but I am highly competitive. All I want to do is win at everything I do, all the time. With volleyball and all my other life experiences, I really love, above all else, the feeling of winning. I live for those tough moments, hard plays, and impossible comebacks. I would assume that other athletes agree with me when I say that I hate losing more than I love winning. With that being said, it is obvious that the attachment to the game most likely comes from being competitive, wanting to master your craft, and being the best team or player that there ever was.
Now, let’s move on to “devotion.” I believe there are two key aspects of devotion. One aspect is the willingness to put in the work. Regardless of if you have natural talent or you don’t, there is still a substantial amount of devotion that must take place in order to win championships and make a name for yourself in the world (e.g. 6am lifts, missing social events, practicing 20+ hours a week, ect.). The second aspect is being consistently devoted, even when you wake up everyday and look at failure in the face. For most sports, you fail way more than you win. However, you have to be devoted to moving past that feeling of failure.
Lastly, let’s talk about “admiration.” To have admiration for something, it must be “impressive or worthy of respect.” No matter how long your athletic career lasts, it is something to look back on and know that it gave you more than any tangible trophy or accolade could. Even if you didn’t end up winning the state title, playing in college, or becoming an all-american, you experienced something that is worthy of respect. This holds true because you became attached and devoted to something bigger than yourself.
The biggest take away from all of this is that if you truly love something, you will be fully attached, fully devoted, and have the highest amount of admiration for it. Even though my athletic career has come to an end, I know what it feels like to truly love my craft. My volleyball career taught me how to find a job/career that drives me to be the best, challenges me to be devoted, and shows me how admirable it is to truly love what you do. I hope that you all find success in all that you do, but above all else, I hope you do it for the core reason of truly loving what you do.
Winning Is Habit 
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