I have worked in sports for nearly 20 years. The current landscape of youth and collegiate athletics looks completely unrecognizable today compared to when I started.
In some ways, coaches and administrators have overcomplicated things. With what we know about strength and conditioning, nutrition, scouting, and performance data, it’s easy to keep doing more to gain a competitive edge.
The technology in sports is impressive, and we have access to more tools than ever before. Much of it is useful, and in some cases essential. But sometimes I wonder if we’ve gone so far down that path that we’ve lost sight of the actual goal.
At its core, success has always come down to two essential questions:
How badly do you want it?
What are you willing to endure?
Athletes want to be successful. Kids love winning, no matter their age. But the real difference-maker in sport is what happens when pursuing the win becomes uncomfortable and more difficult than we originally thought.
Is the athlete willing to endure the boredom of repetition? The frustration of slow, or even backwards, progress? The constant access to public and social criticism? The reality is that improvement rarely happens as quickly as we’d like.
And here’s the thing: it’s OK to not want to work that hard.
I spent a good chunk of my teenage years not wanting to endure discomfort. I practiced what came easily to me and gravitated toward the things I was already good at. I don’t know if it was ego, motivation, or simply a lack of willingness to push myself, and quite frankly, it doesn’t matter.
Because I learned something important along the way that shaped how I think about athletic performance and success in life.
If you don’t work harder than everybody else, don’t be surprised when you get the same results.
Not every athlete was born with unwavering belief in their ability to execute, and not every athlete is willing to endure the sacrifice and discomfort it takes to be great. And that’s what makes sports interesting — because we never know where the next GOAT is waiting in the shadows.
The athletes who ultimately separate themselves from others are rarely the ones who have the most talent early on. More often, they are the ones willing to work harder and tolerate more discomfort than everybody else.
Deep down we know if we want it that badly. We know what we are willing to sacrifice to get where we want to go. We know what fresh hell we are willing to endure. And how hard it is to accomplish something great. We know, even if others can’t tell.
And maybe that’s why success in sport isn’t nearly as complicated as we’ve made it.
Technology will continue to evolve. The data will become more sophisticated. Coaches and athletes will keep searching for ways to gain an edge — those things aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
But the same two questions remain:
How badly do you want it?
And what are you willing to endure?
Because somewhere, right now, there is an athlete doing the work without an audience. An athlete embracing the boredom and the discomfort that others avoid — because they want success so badly, they can’t think about anything else.
That’s an athlete we’ll see on a big stage someday.
As I type this column, my children are wrapping up their last week of school. Yikes. Summer is officially here, regardless of how much weekend rain we seem to get.
Summertime is a great opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and make physical activity an integral component of your everyday routine. Family bike rides, golf, trips to the playground, hikes in the woods, and pickleball are on our agenda for the coming months.
As my children grow, I love sharing my enjoyment of exercise and physical activity with them, especially outdoors. I’m always looking for ways to enjoy the Pioneer Valley, so please send me your favorite activities to do as a family! We’re making a to-do list for the next three months, and I welcome fresh ideas for how to enjoy this beautiful place we all call home.
Carry on.
Jess Lapachinski is an athletic administrator and sport performance professional who lives in the Pioneer Valley. Jess can be reached at jl.victoryLap@gmail.com.