On and off the sporting field, a key element to success is self-belief. At IFS we are working to build on our students’ feelings of self worth and belief. Our mentor sessions are a great opportunity to do this. So far, our students have heard inspiring words from several sources including Mariners’ team members and inspirational speakers on video clips. As a teacher I have always played numb when students use the word – can’t, “I can’t do it!” I tell them that for me, this word [can’t] doesn’t exist and should be replaced with the phrase, “I’m working to achieve this.”
Over the years I have participated in many different sports, playing at competition level in several. Both football and tennis have been in the mix, although my main sport has been cricket. I began playing as a young child, my last competitive game was about five years ago. I also coached cricket at various levels for many years. During my time as a coach, I took a youth team to hear a talk by retired New Zealand fast bowler, Ewen Chatfield. Ewen represented his country during the seventies and eighties and, similar to our Lillee and Thomson of that era, partnered another champion fast bowler in Richard Hadlee. Hadlee was the man with the pace, Chatfield was the workhorse continually nagging away at the batsmen, the type of bowler who bowls every ball on ‘line and length’, and is extremely difficult to score from. At this inspirational talk, Chatfield spoke of success only coming through B.T.B. – Better Than Before. His picture was that every time we undertake something that we have tried before, regardless of the level of our previous success, we must strive to do better. He went on to say that this is only achieved with B.H.W. – Bloody Hard Work. For me this quietly spoken, gentle man hit it on the head. Since then I have used his words in many situations, on the sportsfield as well as in the classroom, to convey the message that regardless of our natural talents, to be truly successful we must do B.T.B. every time, and it’s going to take B.H.W!
Regards,
Rodney
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