Opinionated

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely mine. The blog is not an official publication of any City of Melrose organization.

Sports reflect society. Certain truths resonate. Here are a few:

1. Sport is meritocracy. 

The best quarterbacks play in the NFL. The teams are rewarded for winning, so owners won't be paying their grandchildren to play in the NFL, because they will lose, fans will leave, team value goes down, and the owner sells in disgrace. Of course, that never happens.

2. Sport rewards athleticism. 

Not all sports do. Curling, archery, and a few others don't require elite 'twitchiness'. Volleyball does. 

3. Across sports, four areas dominate:

• Skill (technique)
• Sport-specific IQ (tactics)
• Physicality (strength, quickness, conditioning)
• Psychology (resilience, mental toughness)

4. "The game honors toughness." 

Toughness is a skill. Many tough student-athletes inhabit MVB 26. How you do anything is how you do everything. All three seniors are National Honor Society members. That's toughness. Making the Honor Roll speaks to your toughness and time management. Commitment, discipline, and work ethic show toughness.

Tough players read the plays before they happen, hit the floor, press the block, serve aggressively, set the best option, win jousts, and stand in when volleyballs scream at them. 

5. "You can't walk off the island." (Baseball saying)

If you visited the Dominican Republic, you would see some exceptional resorts and areas with unimaginable poverty. For a few, professional baseball becomes a possible "way out," to escape poverty. You can't become a prospect by "walking off the island." You hit your way off the island.  

You care, you want to improve, to move up and get off of JV. Players who advance build their athleticism, their skill, their game understanding, and the ability to play faster and play with force.  "You have to hit your way off the island."

6.  Earn trust. Trust makes minutes. 

Everyone gets opportunity. Fewer earn trust, the coach wanting you on the floor in the big moments. Performance under game stress earns trust. 

 Lagniappe. Elite coaching is teaching.