Turn Up, Try Hard, Stand Tall

Excelsior Rules

The south west talent crew

These are the 3 rules that I set out for every aspiring Excelsior athlete who wants to be a member of our  Athletic Development Club in Devon.

You may well think that these are too simple or that everyone does these already. I have found that my Talent id process works quite well within 3-4 sessions.

Turn Up: Woody Allen said that “80% of success is just showing up”. There is a lot to be said for that. Who trains week in, week out? Our best athletes turn up about 8 times for every parental contact I have. Our worst turn up once for every 8 times the parent contacts me!

Torzie post fractured patella

Try Hard:Listen to the coaching cues, persist when things fail to work out perfectly the first time you attempt them. A lot of “talented” athletes are just well rehearsed at drills, throw something new into the mix and a lot quit after one attempt.

Stand Tall: No slouching! It reinforces poor posture. Excelsior athletes stand tall because of their correct posture, but also because they have built self confidence by adhering to rules 1 & 2.

Dedication + Effort = Confidence

Over the last 3 months I have been tracking the attendance closely. It has been very revealing to me as a coach.

This Autumn we shall be rewarding those who attend most. My focus shall be on helping these athletes more and spending less time with the “squeaky wheel” parents who distract from the “forgotten middle” of young people who are quietly getting on  with the job.

Related post: “11 questions every aspiring athlete should ask themselves”