Color Guard Education
Recognizing A Champion
by Shirlee Whitcomb
You are in the presence of a true competitor when you
observe that he or she is indeed getting the most joy
out of the most difficult circumstances. The real competitors
love a tough situation. That’s when they focus
better and function better. At moments of maximum pressure,
they want the opportunity to meet the challenge. You
begin to see it as time goes by. Not immediately, but
gradually you see that real competitors relish the challenge,
the bigger the better. The more difficult the competition,
the more they improve.
True competitors derive their greatest pleasure out of
playing against the very best opponents, even though
they may be outscored. The difficult challenge provides
the rare opportunity to be their best. Often great competitors
don’t quite have the physical skills of more gifted
players, but they get more out of what they have at moments
of great pressure. Thus base your judgment not on just
what they had, but how they used it. To what extent did
they attempt to bring forth their abilities? To what
extent did they accomplish that under maximum pressure?
This is how to identify competitors who have greatness
within.
Making the total effort is everything and that’s
all you can ever want and all you can ever ask from your
performers or yourself.
THE FINAL SCORE
The ‘final score’ is not the final score.
The final score is how prepared you were to execute
near your own particular level of competence, both individually
and as a team. There is nothing wrong with that other
group being better than you are, as long as you did
everything you possibly could to prepare yourself for
the competition. That is all you have control over.
That is all you should concern yourself with. It may
be that the other group’s level of competency
is simply higher than yours at the moment. That too
can change.
CRITICISM AND PRAISE
Take criticism with a grain of salt. Tell your
performers, “you’re going to receive criticism.
Some of it will be deserved and some of it will
be undeserved. Either way, you’re not going to
like it. You’re also going to receive praise on
occasion. Some of it will be deserved and some
of it will be undeserved.
Either way, deserved or undeserved, you’re going
to like it. However, your strength as an individual
and as a group depends on how you respond to both
criticism and praise. If you let either one have
any special
effect
on you, it’s going to hurt us. Whether its criticism
or praise, deserved or undeserved, it makes no
difference. If we let it affect us, it hurts us.” If you get caught up in things over which you have
no control, it will adversely affect those things over
which you have control. You have little control over
what criticism or praise outsiders send your way. Take
it all with a grain of salt. Let other competitors get
all caught up in other people’s opinions. But
don’t you do it.
Success is peace of mind that is a direct result
of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best
to become the best you are capable of becoming.
