The Bigger Picture

I came across this quote today and thought it was relevant enough to share with the rest of you:

"The biggest reward is watching the athletes come into the program and grow by learning life skills through athletics. Winning or losing the games obviously is of significance at only this moment in time. Learning the lessons of life to have a quality, meaningful life beyond their playing days is priceless."

This quote was stated by Zdravko Popovic, Director of Coaching for the Internationals Soccer Club based out of Cleveland. This was truly meaningful for me because I played for Zdravko from the time I was 11 years old. There aren't too many people who are more competitive than Zdravko, and he tries to instill competitive fire in his players. However, as you can ascertain from the above quote, he knows that the bigger picture is more important. The life skills that your children can learn through being committed to athletics are immense. I can say that I am a more dedicated, more ambitious, and more driven person because of my years spent playing for a coach like Zdravko.

We can only hope that your children, our players, can one day say the same things about the YDA staff at Ohio Elite. We will never diminish our love of winning, but we will always attempt to focus on the bigger picture and teach our players to be good competitors and good people. We try to teach them that success is a byproduct of effort and commitment to working together for a common goal. We hope that our players can become successful on the field, but even more successful beyond their playing days.