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Scott Baker’s Walkin’ The Sidelines: What Is Pride?

Pride.

Play with Pride.

Pride is a word or statement that often gets thrown around the sporting arena as liberally as candy at a Halloween Parade.

Coaches use it.

Players use it.

Fans sometimes use it.

However, one must wonder how many of those who use the term truly understand what they really mean when they say to play with pride? If it is not understood and thoroughly explained, it could mean many things to many people.

While I do not profess to have the sole or best definition of Pride, I will explain here what it means to me.

A number of years ago, I decided that the team motto that we would use for the CM boy’s basketball team was simply the word PRIDE.

Yeah, I know that’s not a motto but rather simply a word.

Oh well, the word PRIDE would be what we would break the huddle saying. It would be what was printed on our shirts.

But what did pride mean?

What did I want it to mean to the players?

I felt that if they were to gain any benefit from it, an explanation would be necessary. Therefore, we had created team t-shirts with the word PRIDE on the back. However, if we stopped there, it would just be another word on another shirt.

How worthless is that?

Those shirts are everywhere. Shirts with slogans that mean absolutely nothing are already on the backs of many. So, I wanted to be sure that PRIDE stood for something in this case. If as coaches we were going to ask the players to play with PRIDE and have them actually do it, shouldn’t they have an understanding of what it means to play with PRIDE?

I thought so.

Therefore, I decided that the word would be used as an acronym. The letters of PRIDE would stand for, P-passion, R-respect, I-intensity, D-discipline, E-effort.

OK, so now the players would have some ideas upon which to base their PRIDE. Let me spell out now what each letter fully represented.

Passion. I wanted the players to understand that they only get a very short amount of time in life to play a sport. Additionally, I wanted them to understand that they are fortunate in that they have the physical abilities to play the sport. Therefore, I wanted them to appreciate that and play the game with a high level of emotion and enthusiasm.

Passion. Play each game like it could be their last because sadly, we never know when a game could be.

Respect. Respect is something that must be addressed in two ways.

First, it is important for players to respect the game that they are playing. There is a standard by which every game is to be played. Every sport has a tradition. I wanted players to respect that.

Second, Respect must also be understood in terms of respecting others involved in the game… teammates, coaches, opponents, referees, fans and etc. All deserve respect and we needed to understand that.

Intensity. I wanted players to play as hard as they could at all times, within the rules of course. Too often, players might tend to think that they need to save themselves for later in the game or the next game or whatever. Nope, they need to play as hard as they can for as long as they can at all times. Only then are they respecting themselves and the game. I feel that it’s important to note that intensity is not just a physical feature but a mental one as well.Being intense means that a player is completely engaged mentally just as much as they are physically.

Discipline. Oh yeah, discipline. Another term that just gets tossed about. Discipline occurs in both a physical and mental form. Discipline involves carrying out one’s assignments.

Discipline also involves being on time, listening to coaches, understanding your role on the team and many other things.

Effort. This to me is easy to understand but perhaps most difficult for some players to carry out. Often, people have a tendency to believe that they are putting their best effort into things. However, what they sometimes fail to consider is whether that effort is their absolute best. Do they have anything left to give? If the answer is anywhere near yes then the effort simply was not good enough.

Sports deserve one’s best effort. In just ten days, I will officially begin my first season as the head coach of the Lady Wildcat Basketball team and program. Despite the fact that I take leadership of a program that has struggled mightily for a number of years now, I’m excited…very excited. I’m confident. I’m definitely ready to get started.

Why?

First, I know that I will not be bearing the burden of rebuilding the program on my own. I know that the girls are excited to get started as well. I know that there is a coaching staff that is ready and able.

Second, I strongly believe that the girls are capable of better results than they’ve been accustomed to. Why? Because they have more to give than they have so far given. So yes, as coaches we will be stressing PRIDE with them from day one.

We will want them to be proud to play the game of basketball.

We will want them to be proud to be a Lady Wildcat. We will want them to play with passion.

We will want them to respect the game.

We will want them to play with intensity.

We will want them to be disciplined. And, we will expect their best efforts just as they can expect ours. We will expect this all of the time.

Getting them to understand these things will be my job and that of my assistants. The players’ jobs will be to follow.

We trust that they will. We trust that bright days are ahead. This is how I personally view PRIDE. How we as a Lady Wildcat Basketball team will discuss and view PRIDE.

However, PRIDE can mean many things to many people. No one meaning is necessarily any better or worse than the other. Rather, what is important is that each group or individual that chooses to use such a word to motivate has a definition of the word that they truly understand and can rally around.

Do you use PRIDE? Do you have PRIDE? Are you being told to play with PRIDE?

If you are and don’t currently have a clear understanding of what that means to you, take the time to consider what you want it to mean and commit it to memory.

More importantly, commit it to practice.

Be proud of what you do but understand always what it means to be proud. What it means is up to you.

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