All these hours of training while the others go out and do the party. All these evenings, these dates, these “experiences” failed. Sometimes we look back and wonder if all these sacrifices were worth it. We look at the podium that spun between our fingers and we wonder if all the efforts were in the water. We look at our friend ‘s Instagram and we wonder if we missed something.
The truth is, no. Training is not just a sporting discipline, it is a human. A coach is not only a technique; he learns life. While some were celebrating, my coaches taught me to become a better person and arm me with valuable assets.
There are some things I can not thank enough for my coaches, yet they have no connection with my discipline. Here are 12：
1.They taught me that my body has no limits.
The limits are the head that imposes them. There is one super important thing that I would never have done alone, surely because I am not a masochist, and that is that moment; the moment when you think you have given everything and that you are emptied of your energy: it is that moment, the beginning. All that has emptied you of your energy does not matter; this is what you do when each repetition burns and your head asks you to stop who is paying. My coaches not only taught me to go to this area, they taught me that it was essential to success.
2.They taught me that what I did not know was irrelevant.
This sentence seems to have no meaning, without explanation. My coaches taught me that what I already knew was irrelevant, because I do not know what is important, that’s what I have to learn.
You can be the athlete with the most skills, but if you’re not ready to learn new ones, or even totally change the things you already master because the coach is trying a new technique, you’ll eventually stagnate. What is important is to be continually learning, and never to be satisfied with a mere acquisition.
3.They taught me the importance of authority.
Athletes never realize by themselves the respect for the authority and discipline they have developed, but it is reflected in their daily lives in their professional lives. My coaches taught me to live with decisions that made me want to break everything. They have taught me that the authority is generally in my interest, or that of my team, even if I do not like the decision. Being modelable and listening to the critics is a very noble quality that I will never thank my coaches enough to have had the patience to make me acquire.
4.They taught me confidence.
First to trust them. Believe in their choices and decisions. To trust my teammates, to put my failures and my successes in their hands as much as in mine. But, above all, to have confidence in me. Listening to them when they believed in me, when I myself did not believe in it. They allowed me to realize that there is a reason why we are still there, in the team, and it is because we are working for. And that even when it was rough, and I thought I would crumble under pressure, I would have the necessary strength, because that’s what it makes coaches; you do not have to give up.
5.They taught me how to work with others.
A team is a second family, and you do not always get along well with your family. And we will not always get along well with colleagues in the office either. That’s life; you do not choose your team, your family, your colleagues. There are people with whom it will click more, and others less, but every human on your passage has qualities, defects, and is there for a reason. When you train a team, you do not take people with the same strength, it would be stupid. We take different people who all have something to bring, so learn from each person. Every human is at least better than you in one thing, learns this thing.
6.They taught me that the important thing is not to participate.
No, I’m not going to say that the important thing is to win, because that’s not what they taught me. But they taught me that the important thing is not the medal of participation, that, everyone has it. The important thing is to perform, it is to work to its maximum every time we have the opportunity. You do not stay in a team only to present yourself to training, you deserve your place while working. Former athletes know that you do not keep a job by just showing up at 9 am every day, and do not understand too much laziness. As long as you have moved, grasp the moment and give yourself the maximum. Thanks to my coaches, because they taught me to kick my butt to get what I want in life.
7.They taught me to have a strength of character and to swallow my tears.
The excuses, no one wants to hear them, let alone the coach. If you lament because of a defeat, your coach will be the first to call you back the night you did not work the way you needed to, the training you missed when you should have been there. OH. Did he tell you something hurtful? The coaches are not there to rock the athletes, they are there to reinforce them, even if it tried to comfort you, at times. They are there to tell you that you will not have them all, the first places, and that the only thing you can do is raise your sleeves and work harder.
It hurts to be told the real things, but I learned a valuable thing: as long as the coaches will hammer at me, it is because they will have hope in me.
8.They taught me that everybody is replaceable in life.
It’s hard, says it like that, but it’s the truth. Seize the moments and give your maximum in life, because if it is not you who seize the opportunity, it will be someone else. If you want to give up, you will not run after you because someone will be there willingly to take your place. My coaches have taught me to always volunteer to do more, even when it does not tempt me, even when it is not pleasant; they taught me never to let others take my place, or at least make it difficult.
9.They taught me how to handle pressure.
There are factors that can be controlled, and others that will never be controlled. They taught me to concentrate on those I control, and above all to control them well. Are you stressed because of a competition so you do not eat? Bravo champion, you are damaging your performance. They taught me to take that energy and change it into motivation. They taught me that stress is handled, and the confidence is in large part.
10.They taught me to lose with dignity.
Above all, learn from defeat. There is no point in blaming judges and referees. In most sports, there is a human factor, and an error factor. If you’re the best, you can force the judges to win you, there’s no room for subjectivity when you’re the best. So work harder, or learn from your defeats. My coaches taught me to do a retrospective and use these experiences to improve myself. You will not win them all, but the important thing is not the result, it’s the journey.
11.They taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes.
They taught me to be human, and humans make mistakes. The important thing in life, as in sport, is always to work to become a better person. It is to work as if we were always last, but to act as champion. To appreciate his good moves and to be proud of them.
12.They finally taught me to dream.
To set the bar high. We do not realize them all, our dreams, and it’s totally normal. But it is ambition that makes an athlete’s heart beat.
The truth is that real MVPs are the coaches, those people who often remain in the shadows and work almost voluntarily because they believe in us more than ourselves.
To all the coaches who crossed my path, I will never thank you enough.
