Motivate to be self-motivated.
That’s the mantra of every coach and teacher, isn’t it? Along the way someone in each of our lives has inspired us to work harder, reach higher and do the extra steps needed to do our best for ourselves, our classmates and teammates.
Me. I had a couple such teachers plus my parents. It was my high school English teacher who told me I had the potential to write. She inspired me to read beyond the assignments.
Reading words helps you to write words. She was harder on me than any other student in the class but I respected her and still continue to do so.
Coaches need to motivate athletes to be self-motivated.
In 2005-2006, Iola High had a group of girls who were motivated by the same thing. They had been together playing sports, particularly basketball, since they were peewee age. They won the state basketball championship they were after but not without a new coach pushing them to be all-around players not just offensive players. Championships are won with defense.
As expected, the USD 257 Board of Education voted Monday to have the Iola High School join the Pioneer League starting the 2012-2013 school year. Iola High will leave the Southeast Kansas League after 65-plus years.
The league change is not the be all and end all. We had our hats handed to us by the No. 2 and No. 3 football teams of the Pioneer League this year in back-to-back games in district play.
Reasons differ out there for the switch. But the most talked about is giving our athletes a chance to be competitive. It’s going to take more than switching leagues for that to happen.
And basically, again the sports targeted for this switch have been football and boys’ basketball.
Switching leagues doesn’t automatically end the losing seasons. Work has to be done in the off-season by athletes and coaches to turn programs around.
Being “in” the weight room is not motivating athletes to come in and work hard. Coaches need to reach out to athletes. Now days it’s harder than ever to get past the hours youth spend on electronic devices — phones, video game systems and the like.
Don’t make excuses for them. Find out why they miss a workout session during the summer. Go beyond just like you ask your athletes to do when they play.
We all have to ask ourselves are we doing our best to provide our youngsters opportunities to be competitive. Have we found the right offense, defense, the right workout schedule, the right type of play — power hitting, small ball — to put the kids in position to be successful.
Being successful is not just about wins and losses. It’s about wanting to do better the next time, to strive for that next step.
Athletes, I’m not forgetting about you.
The Iola Middle School declined to move to the Pioneer League with the high school. Not unusual. There’s nothing that says a middle school and high school need to compete in the same league — Burlington’s middle school competes in the Pioneer League while the high school is in the Tri-Valley. Crest’s middle school is in the Lyon County League and the high school is in the Three Rivers League.
Why that decision? Competition. The IMS athletes compete pretty well in the SEK. They are able to allow all students who want to participate to do so because the other schools have large enough numbers to do so. Not all the Pioneer League schools can produce the number of games to accommodate participation.
There has been a disconnect between participation at the middle school level to the high school level in Iola. Students are not going out for high school sports.
Iola High students, you want to win games? You have to take advantage of coaches being in the weight room, being there to teach offense and defense during the summer.
Don’t give excuses. Do the work and reap the reward. Participate. Motivate.
