It is the top of the camp season. For the last 30 day and the next 30 day, many final camp take place in the United States and Canada. Many player making team, many more getting cut.
It is tremendously disappointing in many case to be the player who get cut. Player who make final camp though should also be proud that they made it that far in the selection process. Coming close is good, not bad. Disappointment should only be fuel to become better player.
Why did you get cut though? That is the question. Sometime coach tell you directly at exit interview, sometime they do not. It can be confusing and frustrating.
What the player need to remember is that building the team is like assembling a puzzle. In the end the coach decide the player do not fit into the puzzle he is assembling. That do not mean the player may not fit in the future or that the player is not good.
Coach in most case do not need six left hand stay at home defense. So he pick the one he want. Do not mean the other aren’t good, only mean they do not fit that team puzzle at the time.
So what to do now that you be cut?
It is time to look for the team to spend the season on. More important it is time to commit to that team. But do you know what commit mean?
Commit mean what it is. It mean commit to playing on that team all year. Do not waste time and energy thinking and talking about getting moved up mid season. If it is to happen it will happen. If you can not focus on where you are right now, you will not see where you are going either.
If it is your last year junior. Well, it just didn’t work out. The game is not designed or meant to give everything to everyone who wants something. Pick at team and work hard, but have fun. Enjoy the last year, do not cry over the milk spilled.
If it is your first year junior. You have time to develop and you are simply not ready for the higher level for one reason or another. Find a team, keep your ears open and your mouth closed. Learn and develop.
The bottom line is simple. Nearly every player in the world throughout all history get cut from a team at some time or another. It is the one in a million that never get cut. The question is, how will you react to it? Will you become stronger? Will you want it more? Will you work harder? Or will you realize that maybe you aren’t at the level you thought?
It is a process, not just of building the team, but of learning who you are and where you fit in. There is no shame in being cut, it is just another part of the process.
Coach
