1st Place Volleyball July 2010 : Page 19
I will never forget the feeling I had that day watching the other setters in my age group get all the attention of the coaches for these amaz-ing things they could do. I wanted to be as good as they were. At that moment, being a good high school setter seemed so far away, much less getting an opportunity to play in college! When the coaches (Long Beach State players) would demonstrate setting skills, I would sit there and think, “Wow, their hands are amazing! I bet their hands never looked like mine when they were my age.” My mom knew better. She helped me realize that nothing in life comes easily and that if you want to be good at anything, you have to take full advantage of every opportunity to improve yourself. And everyone, even college players, had to start somewhere. I learned a lot about volleyball at this camp, including what to continue working on at home, and I gained insight into what I needed to focus on to become a better player. My high school team went on to win two more state championships, and while my club team was very success-ful on the national level, we never won that elusive national champion-ship. Just like the camp had, this lit another fi re in me. I took this fi re with me to the University of Washington, where I was once again lucky to have a coach and many teammates who shared my passion. Our UW team went on to play in three national semifi nals and in 2005, we won the NCAA National Championship. Now, 10 years after thinking I would never be good enough to play college volleyball, I am a setter on the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team trying to earn a spot on the 2012 Olympic Team. My experiences, my teammates, and my mentors have taught me many things over the last 10 years, some of which I would like to share with you. The following are a few of the lessons I wish I would have known on my fi rst day at camp… Control what you can control The greatest lesson I have learned is “not to look sideways.” Never compare yourself to anyone, never measure yourself to anyone, and most importantly, do not worry about anyone other than yourself. All that you can do is work to be the best that you can be, and in order to do that, you have to focus on only those things within your control. The minute you start worrying about how good someone else is, or how tall she is, or what her team’s record is, you lose focus on what you need to do to win the next point. To win, you must be connected physically, mentally, and emotionally. All you can control is your own behavior, so stay focused on being the best that you can be. An ant can move a mountain bit by bit Small people can do big things. There are thousands of sports exam-ples where the “underdog” has risen up against all the odds to prove her critics wrong. The best way to overcome your challenge, whether it’s being too small, too slow, not coordinated enough, etc., is to move your mountain bit by bit. The biggest dream can be achieved if you take it one day at a time. Chip away at your goal little by little, and if you keep your head down and work every day, you will be surprised at how far you’ve come, once you take a measure of your progress. Don’t be consumed with how impossible your goal seems, or with how much work you’ll have to put in to reach it. Be relentless. Be focused. Get bet-ter today, and move your mountain bit by bit, because it can be done. Let me repeat; small people can do big things. Anything can happen — that’s why we play the game. Dream big. In our society, we often put successful athletes on a pedestal. In doing so, it can seem impossible for one of us to reach their level of success. It happens at every level; junior high kids think high school kids are amaz-ing, high school kids think college kids are amazing, and college kids think professionals are amazing. The reality is that we all start some-where, everybody is human, and at some point everyone has doubt. There is no magic; professionals and Olympians go to practice every day, and work on their weaknesses. They make mistakes, they have bad days, and they have to work sometimes to motivate themselves. These athletes have put in more work than most of their competitors, and that is why they are successful. ■ Courtney Thompson earned A VCA All-America First-eam honors three times as T setter for the Washington Huskies. She led her team to the national semifi nals three times, winning the championship in 2005. Thompson is currently training with the U.S. Women’s National V olleyball T eam in Anaheim, Calif., and co-authored her fi rst book, Your First Hour, with Ryan Hite in 2009. July 2010 | Phenom 19
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