A little help from my friends.

[D-ROB 50]

Sorry guys I know this has nothing to do with the spurs but threads are limmited this time of year anyway.
I've coached highschool football and basketball now for the past eight years, the school where i coached was a little rough around the edges to say the least. I identified well with these athletes because they were from lower income families and questionable neighborhoods, these guys were eager to prove themselves week in and week out. Getting these guys to produce was relatively easy for me, because pretty much all we had to do was challenge them to prove they can run with the more "fortunate" schools. This year I have taken a postion at a campus where the kids are very, very, very well off. I have heard some pretty interesting stories about these kids and their parents. What it boils down to is that these kids are spoiled and we get no parental support when it comes to attitude. So I'm turning to my spurs fans bretheren. If any of you could be so polite as to post a favorite inspirational quote or motivational saying regarding hardwork and earning your stripes I would really appreciate it. These quotes I will be sharing with my athletes on a daily basis. Thanks in advance. :toast

I figured we got four championships, we must know something about hardwork and determination.

[El_Mago]

Start off with the Spurs motto:

"Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before." Jacob Riis

(Team Work)

[samikeyp]

The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

and since you are working with kids..

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.



Both are from John Wooden

[xellos88330]

The turtle in Kung Fu Panda had some pretty good philosophies. No I am not joking.

[RGMCSE]

Promises of coke, smoke, drank, and stank should get their attention.

[King K]

http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Effort9.htm

just googled it..

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

and since you are working with kids..

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.



Both are from John Wooden

:tu :tu

[Dice]

If there spoiled and have had everything given to them, then you might try the approach that no one is going to "give" them a win. If they want to win games, they're going to actually have to work for it. For some of them it may be the first thing they've ever had to work to get.
If you don't get them going by the time the season starts maybe you can use losses as ammunition to fire them up. I'd probably use the phrase" Daddy's little girls" a lot.

Also, try and find the pack leader and hopefully get him fired up about playing. that alone could be all you need.

I feel bad for you though in that, a lot of times, schools that have money are run by parents who have money. If the team sucks it will never be their kids fault and you'll be the one taking the blame.

[D-ROB 50]

http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Effort9.htm

just googled it..

I read hundreds of those, i was hoping to get some stuff maybe somebody out there made up, kind of like.....



Promises of coke, smoke, drank, and stank should get their attention.

:rollin

[D-ROB 50]

I feel bad for you though in that, a lot of times, schools that have money are run by parents who have money. If the team sucks it will never be their kids fault and you'll be the one taking the blame.

These are the exact things i've been warned about. Do you coach/teach?

[duncan228]

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

Tell them that those other schools think they will beat them because they're privileged and lazy. And they'll stand over them and call them rich crybabies. And that the only way to prove them wrong is to beat them by being stronger, more focused, and by working harder. Otherwise... they're right, you are just privileged pussies.

[Dice]

These are the exact things i've been warned about. Do you coach/teach?

My little brother does. He actually quit a job in a small town because of rampant rumors started by parents. And the parents practically owned the school.

Hopefully you'll have a good experience and everything will be alright. Money wise, I'd bet this job is a great thing for you and your family. Hopefully it will be as rewarding experience as you've had before. If not, you'll have to decide what's best for you and yours.

Hope the best for you. The only other advice I'd give you is to go in there will all the confidence in the world believing things are going to work out the way you want them. And don't ever let the parents run over you.(if you can help it)

[exstatic]

If you beat me, you beat me, but you're not going to beat me with your mouth.

[Coach Buzzcut]

If you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training, you will be a weapon. You will be a minister of death praying for war. But until that day you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human, fucking beings. You are nothing but unorganized grabastic pieces of amphibian shit. Because I am hard you will not like me. But the more you hate me the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair. There is no racial bigotry here. I do not look down on ######s, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless. And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps. Do you maggots understand that?

[Riverwalkman]

-The time when there is no one there to feel sorry for you or to cheer for you is when a player is made.

ByTim Duncan

-If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.

-The true athlete must have character, not be a character.

-Reputation is what you are perceived to be; character is what you are.

By John Woodson

[mudyez]

IMO every player will react in a differnt way and there might be some that dont buy into it, even if you are great actor (or believe in it yourself...which you shoult!)...some even think speaches and quotes are silly!

but there is one thing, that should be the main integredence to all your speaches (I'm using it --everyone should-- and its realy important to our sccess):

always use the word "WE" (or "US")!!!

don't tell them, that they have to do this or that...tell them, that WE should do it!

that tells them that the team is important not one individual. it also tells them, that you are with them and not the guy who earns money with it, or who has fun making them sweat!

if you always speak that way, it makes everything else so much easier!

[symple19]

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
Sun Tzu (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/suntzu103725.html)

Kids these days (especially rich ones) are more individualistic/narcissistic than ever. Unfortunately, in many cases you will have to identify the quote with something they perceive as being "cool". My old B-ball coach introduced us to Sun-Tzu and many of his quotes. He gave us an overview of who the man was and then used some of his more general quotes(not the more war-related quotes) that dealt with dealing with or overcoming adversaries. We all thought Sun-Tzu was pretty cool and he would have a new quote for us before every game. The one above was one of my favorites. Another;

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
Sun Tzu (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/suntzu129845.html)

These always helped us focus going into the games and the fact that some interesting pop-culture type people were into Sun-Tzu helped as well. (e.g. rappers,politicians,actors-People kids may identify with).

Another favorite of mine is Patton.(I'm an Iraq War vet so I had to get one in)

I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.
George S. Patton (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgespa164737.html)

And of course Lombardi.

We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.
Vince Lombardi (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/vincelomba120742.html)

Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will be judged by only one thing-the result.
Vince Lombardi (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/vincelomba386968.html)

Make sure you give a little background on the original speaker/writer of the quote and no matter whom you choose, I think you'll have success. Good luck man!

[Fernando TD21]

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.
:toast

[Dex]

The eyes are the groin of the head.
-Dwight Schrute

[urunobili]

Play the Scrubs and tank a couple of games until the ones with the tude (i bet those are the best players) understand that you're in it to win it and they need to behave to be able to help their team.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Tell them a little about your old job and announce that they are going to go scrimmage there so they can see what this game means to some people and they will understand why they should respect the game and what it means to be a team. Get them in their uniforms, drive them over there, and as soon as the last one is off the bus burn rubber out of there. Getting back home will be an exercise in team building and self reliance.

If you don't believe it works then go watch The Warriors, which I understand is based on the true story of how the Golden State franchise came to be.

[Guajalote]

I may have missed this, but what age are they?

I am a fifth grade teacher (I've taught grades 2,3 & 5 for 13 years) and I coached 7th grade boys basketball for 5 years. Even though the economic status of my town may have differed from yours, I don't see much difference in the techniques to use.

Unless you're 7 feet tall or can jump like Jordan, there really aren't any quick and easy gimmicks or sayings that will win them over. I found that once the kids bought into the "team" concept, I could start getting results.

You need to do a lot of team building exercises. Break them up into two teams (maybe starters and second stringers, by size, or just at your whim) and play games like bump, 21, superman drill, etc. Stay away from actual scrimmaging until they start forming bonds. SUPER IMPORTANT- Always try to do as much WITH the kids as you can. Run conditioning with them, challenging the slower ones you're hopefully beating. Scrimmage with them. Shoot free throws, etc. Show them that you're willing to buy into what you are asking them to do.

Speaking as a teacher, a crucial piece is parent communication. Try sending home a weekly newsletter or making phone calls just to touch bases. Don't turn the communication into bad news only. Call and communicate successes and team goals. It's easier for parents to have patience or buy into what you're doing if they know why you're doing what you're doing. Also, as discipline problems arise that can't easily be handled in practice (run until you puke, then get up and run some more), an immediate parent contact via phone call or home visit can nip things in the bud and strengthen communication.

You're always going to have players or parents that aren't going to cooperate or buy into what you're doing. That's the nature of human beings. But, with the team building exercises and CONSTANT communication, I think you'll find that kids are basically the same all over.

[Nathan Explosion]

Have them read the Art of War for one. It's a must read for business men in Japan and can be applied to many different situations.

Second, set a goal to achieve. "It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."- Ursula K. Le Guin

[antgomez2009]

Here are a couple of quotes to have!!


"Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success. "
~ Henry Ford


"It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit. "

UnKnown


"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. "
~ Michael Jordan


"Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success. "
~ Unknown


"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. "
~ Vince Lombardi

"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it. "
~ H.E. Luccock


My Favorite of course is the Henery Ford, but i like Vince Lombardis quote because it applies to overall life!

[CGD]

I recommend picking up a book by the Wizard of Westwood (Wooden). He has great insights for any organization. I find a lot of his ideas relevant for business too.

[CGD]

BTW good luck. Please keep us posted!!

[D-ROB 50]

Wow, Big thanks to all of you for the insight, I knew I would learn something here to improve the program. Freshmen and JV by the way, Keep the input comming. We start TOW-A-DAYS august 10th.

[Spursone]

"It's not how long you make it,
It's how you make it long.":rollin

The Late George Karlin

[FromWayDowntown]

I'm limited in what I can post right now, but I'll tell you that I think you'll need more than some interesting sayings to get what you hope to get from those kids. What you seem to want is both a competitive spirit and some enthusiasm for the opportunity to compete. The best way to instill those ideas is to make everything a competition (whether an individual competition or a team effort) and to use the competitions themselves as a tool to encourage enthusiasm about having the opportunity to compete. In a football practice, a lively Oklahoma drill is usually a winner, but make it more than a drill by creating incentives to win (make the losers do pushups or a short run) and then encourage enthusism from those who aren't in the drill by creating an overall incentive (team that wins gets a break from some post-practice running or something). Of course, be sure that such things are ok with the head coach, too. But I think getting what you want will take more than some soundbites.

When I was a junior in high school (at an upper-middle class school) our team was terribly uncompetitive and not very emotional. We got our tails kicked for most of that crappy season and our head coach was rumored to be on the chopping block. The offseason that followed was all about competition - we had record boards in the weightroom, were ranked against each other based on testing results (with incentives for those who ranked highly), and were frequently divided into teams for races or other competitions. We were also periodically put through enthusiasm drills (a drill that was 2 minutes or high-fiving teammates, for instance). When we took the field the next fall, we were insanely competitive, totally unified, and more enthusiastic about the game than anyone we played. We had a great season, too. Couldn't tell you any quote that our coach read to us, either....