Yes, there are some very basic things that players and parents often over look when staring out on their journey. Many coaches too, do not understand four key items needed to build a strong team.
To build the team, is like building the skyscraper. The skyscraper must be big, strong, take care of the people within it, and it must inspire more people to enter it in the future. Skyscrapers can withstand an earthquake. To be sure you will feel the earthquake but the building will not fall down when built correctly.
To build an individual career, you must build your foundation, ensure it is constructed properly, making sure you can always see out the windows toward the future. When building the career, you can look down to see how far your building has come along, but you can not skip steps in the building process to get to the top floor more quickly.
The skyscraper is built from bricks, mortar, steel, and glass. The successful team must be built using the same bricks, mortar, steel, and glass.
Bricks:
Foundations are built upon bricks, or concrete. Even the most complex buildings use bricks and concrete. Bricks provide strength. Every brick has a specific purpose within the design. Every member of an organization, and every player is a brick. Everyone has a role to fill. Some bricks are good, some brick are not so good. Some bricks are designed to build tall building, some are design to build the smaller building. You must pick the bricks carefully.
Mortar:
Mortar is what holds the bricks together. It helps to give strength to the foundation. Character is mortar. Qualities such as leadership, hard work, dedication and commitment are mortar for the team. Every brick must have some mortar. Without it, stress on the foundation will cause it to shift and the building comes down. Take two bricks and rub together without the mortar and the bricks begin to crumble.
Steel:
Steel is used to reinforce bricks. Steel is used to provide strength as the building grows, as it reaches new heights. Steel is provided through leadership. Leadership starts with the owner, and goes all the way to the player that is in and out of the lineup. Leadership is accepting peoples strength and weakness. Leadership is support, both in word and in deed.
Glass:
Glass provides vision. A building with no glass will not have any people in it. A team with no glass to provide vision will not have people in it. Vision provides people with the ability to form goals and have people see those goals before they achieve them. Vision, is what the most successful players have on the ice, and the most successful organizations have off the ice. 20/20 vision is when all of that comes together. Although clear, glass and vision add to the strength of the structure.
If you try to build your skyscraper or the team skyscraper without all four of these components, you have an empty building or a building that will fall under stress.
If you have trouble finding a team building a skyscraper as a player you are missing one of these qualities. If you are a team having trouble finding players, you are missing one of these qualities. Build a strong building this season and reach new heights with your skyscraper.
Joseph Kolodziej – Adviser
