To Have the Will to Win is Not Enough

"To have the will to win is not enough.... You must have the will to prepare to win" - Vince Lombardi.
    I am writing a little off topic from Landscaping today.  Today I was reminded what a great community I live in and how lucky my twin boys are to be in this school district.  At this little town named Duncan, halfway between Greenville and Spartanburg, SC... is one of the best high school football programs in the country.
    I could describe how good this team is in a number of ways.  Byrnes High School Rebels have been rated as high as #2 in the nation. Their skill and conditioning is like that of a small college.  They have a million dollar weight room and an ex-Marine Seargent as a weights and conditioning coach.  We have won 7 out of the last 10 state championships with 2 other 2nd place finishes.  We have a phenomenal amount of players that get division 1 football scholarships.  We haven't lost a home game since I don't know when.  We only have 14 losses in 10 years.  That counts big time out of state schools we play and SC state playoffs... only 14!  During the same period we have 132 wins.
     I could also describe how good our team is in matters other than wins and losses.  The members of these teams sign contracts that describe their personal behavior and conduct that is expected.  They consistently do things like volunteer to help another school organization by working at a car wash or other fund raising activity.  They have Friday prayer breakfasts at the local diner - and a high percentage of the players freely wake up before 6 am. so they can attend.  Football players at this school are not spoiled aka the Lebron James' of the world... football players at this school are required to sit at the front of the classrooms, they pay attention, they have good manners and they get good grades.
    So we win lots of games and we have great kids... but that is not the purpose of my writing today.  Today my boys had their medical physicals so that they can play next year.  (They'll be in the 7th grade.  Mac is 5'5" and weighs 205 lbs and Will is 5'2" and 147 lbs.).  All of the 7th - 12th grades must have a physical and the school district had this set up at a local Dr's office.  We were to fill out this form and be at the Dr's office between 6-8 pm.    Well... I don't like to be late... I am normally early.  So we show up at 5:27.  33 minutes early.... And there is a line out the door, across the parking lot - and down the street.  I swear there were people there just to see what next years team might look like!
   Yeah, Yeah.. so you say maybe they just all wanted to get home early for dinner.  Being early for a physical is not that big of a deal.  Well - Byrnes football is always like this.  The Monday after the Saturday they won the state championship last year they were in the weight room getting ready for this year.  There is an air of excitement in this little town because spring football starts next week.  From the  7th grade thru the 12th the boys will spend time all summer in the weight room at Byrnes.  There are footballish camps and other activites all summer. 
     So why do I feel lucky?  It's not because I hope my boys are Byrnes football stars or that they get a college scholarship.  It's because they are being taught that the will to win is not enough... they are being taught how to prepare to win.  If they learn this they will be great at whatever endeavor they choose... even being a landscaper!

Rich