NICK MERSCH
SPORTS EDITOR
As an athlete, I personally try to be what a coach wants me to be for the team. If the coach wants me to be a starter, then I’ll be that. If he wants me to sit on the bench and have a lot of energy, I can do that too. If I need to lead, I can lead. If I need to follow, I can listen and do what I’m told as well.
Contrary to some of these contrasting situations, a coach will always want you to have a good work ethic. Having that drive to go the extra mile during practice and to go hard on your own will get you further than you think in whatever sport you’re in.
I worked at a Christian summer camp in July and August and would always try to relate the Scriptures that we reviewed with the kids to real life scenarios. Galatians was the book that we dove into each week, and there’s a lot of talk about reaping what you sow in terms of your faith life. I always told my campers that not only is this applicable with your relationship with God but it also works as plain old life advice that’s applicable for everything they do.
Work ethic is work ethic no matter what part of your life it’s in. It’s a shame sometimes to look around at people that work really hard in their respective sports, but slack off in school, their relationships or their faith.
If you are willing to work hard in one area of your life, that means you have no excuse for slacking off in areas that are less appealing to you. The saddest part about these situations is that once you put some effort into things like school, relationships and especially your faith life, you’ll start to see the fruits of it and want to pursue it more.
Also, that’s the reason that you probably fell in love with your sport in the first place: because you put work in and saw results in your performance. To see that fruits of your labor is a really satisfying feeling and it can be addictive. So why not fall in love with your work no matter what part of your life it’s in?
Working hard is something that’s learned. However, once a work ethic is learned, you must have the mental awareness and fortitude to realize that it can be applied everywhere in your life.
It’s easy to think that you just aren’t good at math and to accept that as a fact. However, that doesn’t make sense in sports. The first time you picked up a basketball or kicked a soccer ball, you probably weren’t good at it. But if you’re playing a sport right now, you were probably terrible at one point and then got much better through practice.
So why is it that we don’t apply this knowledge to the rest of our lives? I think this is a simple secret that everyone has the power to tap in to with some self-discipline and awareness.
Hopefully after reading this, you can take a look at your own life and try to think of areas that you aren’t giving your all in. Anyways, thanks for reading, and as always, be good and watch some football.