Through an Athlete's Mind
Dedication and commitment come from the desire to achieve success. In sports, one must establish goals that will guide the path to success. Being dedicated and committed to these goals is essential for anyone to excel at the highest levels. Dedication is the will to work on achieving goals. Commitment is the inner drive to put heart and soul into accomplishing them. To reach your potential as an athlete one must have a strong work ethic and an underlying belief that anyone can succeed. High achievers are dedicated to working hard even when they don’t enjoy some of the tasks because they are committed to the efforts necessary for their goals. Here at Denali, all our athletes are high achievers and dedicate their time and energy to achieve their goals.
Most athletes get pre-game-jitters; even the pros admit that they suffer from nervousness before games. While professional athletes are equipped to deal with pre-game stress, high school athletes typically aren’t. However, here our Denali students are equipped with a growth mindset to help them deal with all the stress. Denali high school athlete, Christina Nguyen has a techniques she uses to ease through the pressure, “ … I just go into the mindset, where I know I can do the best I can and I control the stress and pressure throughout the game… I breathe my way through.” Motivation plays a large role and is the foundation of all athletic effort and accomplishment. It is common to see pressure get to athletes, but motivation helps many get through. Here is what Denali high school athlete, Arianna Aguila had to say when she was asked what made her decision to stick to the sport she currently plays, “When I was in preschool, I played on a small soccer league and then stopped but after a while I’ve always had the urge to play again, so in third grade I picked the sport back up again and have been playing since.”
Sports can play a big part when it comes to colleges, asking athletes if they think they would play a college sport is a big question, here’s how Denali high school athlete Christina Nguyen handled the question, “I don’t think I have the right skills to play on an actual college level team, but I’d definitely join an intramural sport and still enjoy it.” Many colleges offer a variety of intramural sports as a way to encourage teamwork and collaboration among students. Students can participate in intramural sports for fun, practice, physical exercise or for the competition. Intramural sports have proven to be an effective method of promoting inclusion, acceptance, health, and wellness amongst the student body and mind.
Many athletes have their strengths and weaknesses. But there are also so many ways to overcome the weaknesses and strengthen one’s strengths to a higher level. Here at Denali, athletes and students create goals to help them develop skills they need to improve their weaker skills. Regarding her strengths and weaknesses, Desiny Charles stated, “my strengths are running fast, and I’m aggressive on the field. One weakness I have is accurate passing, but I know with practice it will become one of my strengths.”
Team chemistry is one of the most complicated keys to the success of any team or sports organization. Effective teams are more than just a collection of talented members. To be effective, a team has to be able to combine the efforts and abilities of members in the right way. “It is the key foundation of any sport,” Pablo Maciel stated. Here is what Christina Nguyen had to say when she was asked about team chemistry, “ Yes, team chemistry is really important because you won’t be able to play your best if you're not in sync with your teammates. If your team has a really positive bond, you know you’ll always have a good connection with your teammates. The positive vibes that you get will give you confidence and allow you to perform better because you know no matter what, your teammates have your back.”
Hard work is key to succeed in sports. Hard work starts with dedication and commitment to an athlete’s goals. Denali athletes commit themselves to achieving a dream, dedicate themselves to working hard, and most importantly having fun while they play the sport they love.
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