On Winning

Ever wonder why some schools win and win and win again? There are thousands of reasons why, but I am convinced this is one of them.

This past week on CoachFree’s BFS Clinics across America I presented at a school that had 38 State Championship banners on the gym wall. Outstanding! School was out, but close to half the student body was there including the volleyball team. Last year, they won 38 games in a row, 38-0, very impressive. Then they lost in the state tourney.

There were a number of coaches there, but I saw only one tablet in hand, taking notes: The VB Coach. There she was trying to pick up something that might propel them to that 39th win and another state championship.

After the presentation, I got back in the van and headed off to Denver, driving by dozens and dozens of other schools along the way. For this trip, I contacted every school along I-70 from Kansas City to Salt Lake City. Only one school along that route took me up on the offer.

Here was a chance for athlete programs along a 6,000 mile route to experience Be An 11 at a 75% reduction in cost. Furthermore, if they liked the program and invited us to return for a regular program clinic or seminar, we would deduct the amount they paid for this presentation. Virtually no risk.

To date, there have been but 7 schools that took me up on the offer. Some schools win and will win again. Other schools will win once in a while. There are literally thousands of athletes along the route who would have benefited from hearing the message. But their coach or athletic director deemed it perhaps too much of a hassle to bring in the teams to hear the message.

One school in MN that did, the next week had more kids in their weightroom than ever before. Those kids are fired up. Lined up at the door ready to go to work to get better.

What coach wouldn’t want help with that?

In the presentation, we have the following slide - we share things that I have learned since starting school in 1949, yes, 1949! We used to sit around the campfire or the table and pass along the wisdom, now we bring in a motivational speaker who has a van, down by the river. Anyway, Be An 11 reinforces what every coach wants for and from his kids.
Meyer said that when he took over at Utah, and Florida. From my experience which spread over a 5 decade time period, Less than 10% of the high schools in the state are committed to doing things the right way. Most everyone else will fall short because they do not have the perseverance, dedication or commitment to doing it the right way.

I was also asked to stop at a school that said they used BFS in the weightroom. After talking with coaches for a time, it became clear that they did 'some' BFS things. But they were not running the program as it's intended. Experience tells us that when you modify the program, you get modified results and fall short of achieving your goals.

Life is a game of choices, and you get to choose your destiny. Choose wisely.