An athlete’s commitment to his team and devotion to making practices consistently set a player apart from others who are not willing to put the time in. For many teams at WHB, coaches prohibit players from slacking off in practice and taking unnecessary time off, such as vacations during their in season sport.
For the basketball team, Christmas break will be a crucial time to focus on improving as a team. The practice time during this break will set us apart from the teams that are not putting in the extra hours. Senior, Matt Lieberman, golf captain and basketball manager, when asked about the severity of missing practice time, he states, “ The issue is a direct result between players and coaches. If a coach trusted all of his players to practice on their own, there wouldn’t be a problem with taking vacations off. Although, in reality, not all student athletes are truly dedicated to their sport.”
Another controversy is whether an athlete is at fault if a parent has already booked the vacation. For senior guard Elan Assayag, he does not have a say in whether he can be with his team during this break. “I have no control over my parents. I want more than anything to be with my team during the time off so we can work and get better. I understand that commitment is important when playing on a team, especially as a varsity athlete. When I get back home I will play twice as hard.”
We can all relate to Elan, we have no control over our parents’ decisions. This is just one of those times that he will have to be ready to work when he gets back.
Coaches like Ron Gholson make known that practice time is crucial for team growth, team building, and to set themselves apart from the competition. He said “ Practice is vitally important because it prepares a team for games, allows players to learn the coach’s philosophy, improve their skill set, their basketball IQ, and build t confidence in themselves and their teammates.” During breaks, it’s important to put forth effort and come together as a team in the time off. Coach Gholson’s perspective on the matter is “Practice time during breaks is crucial because allows players to keep a routine that will allow them to come out of break and not miss anything that’s relevant to the next game.”
Overall a team’s success is determined upon the effort put forth by all its players. If everybody isn’t in it, then it wont be easy to win it. This is the mentality that has used when practice time is available. If an athlete wants to set himself and his team from the competition he has to work when the other person isn’t.
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will”. ~ Vince Lombardi