Thursday 1 March 2012

Winning the Battle

Many days out of the last few weeks I’ve spent trying to figure out what my future in hockey is going to be like. I worried and got hung up on whats to come instead of the present. I look back at it now and ask myself why did I allow myself to have those thoughts creep into my head. My play in practice became inconsistent and effort in the gym decreased and when I got a chance to play I was average. I could blame it on the team for lack of defense, or being tired, but where’s that going to get me? I’ve come to realize that if you don’t believe in yourself, if you just go out and play because you have to and give a half assed effort, you wont go anywhere. If you give your best effort all the time even if no one recognizes it, your making yourself better.

The last month my coach has been talking a lot about percentages. We are in a battle for playoffs and he keeps on mentioning, “if we can all bring up our play by a few percent we will make playoffs” or “if we can bring down the percent of turnovers we’ll win more games”. If we as individuals did everything we do just a few percent better everyday just imagine how much better we would be just after one week. Then think after a month, a year. There will be people who take the easy way out and do their best for a few days then just forget about it and there will be others who do their best every second they get. I know I myself work hard on the ice, but once I’m at home I can be better. I can work harder on studying or doing my homework, eating healthier. There’s always areas to improve on. People are always watching especially when you least expect it. There will always be rough patches throughout our lives, but how you deal with those rough patches will determine your success.

Regards
Austin Smith

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