TEN STEPS TO A WINNING EDGE

1. Are you coachable? Can you take criticism without looking for an alibi? Are you a know-it-all? Do you always to try to improve?

2. Are you a positive team member? Do you contribute to team morale, or do you bellyache and complain? Are you up when things go your way, down when they don’t? Do you support your teammates and coaches, or do you knock them?

3. Are you possessed with the spirit of competition which fires an intense desire to be successful? Do you never take “no” for an answer when there’s a job to be done? Does it bother you to give less than 100%?

4. Are you mentally tough? When the going get tough, do you get tougher? Do you make excuses or do you suck it up and get the job done?

5. How are you under pressure? Can you concentrate on what must be done? Can you shut out of your mind a previous failure, foul or personal insult in order to give special attention to the play that is happening here and now? W I N = What’s Important Now!

6. Do you have an inherent desire to improve? Are you eager to work diligently on your skills, especially those you are weak in?

7. Are you willing to practice? Do you just put in your time or do you practice with the same intensity you bring to a match?

8. Are you willing to make sacrifices?

9. Are you willing to be impersonal toward your opponent? Do you shut out such feelings as fear and anger, except to play as hard as possible within the rules?

10. Are you willing to fulfill your responsibility as an athlete? Do you recognize that your attitude and actions on and off the field must be those of a class person representing a class program?