“When one door closes, another opens;
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
- Alexander Graham Bell

Jenna playing soccer

Some of the greatest lessons that a person can learn about life and leadership comes from playing sports.

It’s on the playing field that we discover how important it is to have a positive attitude, be a team player, and give 100% effort.  There is also an inherent risk of injury, defeat, and disappointment when it comes to playing sports. How we handle those challenges and what we learn from them can help us not only grow as an athlete but more importantly as a person.

Jenna, a student-athlete at Essex High School in Essex, VT knows this first hand. Going into her senior year she was captain of her soccer team and the season ahead was full of promise. During a preseason game in one play Jenna tore her left ACL, cracked her kneecap and cracked her femur bone. Her season was over – and for someone who lived and breathed soccer – Jenna was devastated.

She now had to face one of the biggest challenges an athlete can be confronted with – dealing with a season-ending injury.

I asked Jenna how she handled this setback and what she did to turn such a painful experience into something positive. Her lessons and insights may not only make a difference for athletes but for anyone confronted with an unexpected turn of events.

It’s Okay to be disappointed, sad, frustrated and even angry.

It can be a shock to learn that you cannot finish your season or possibly ever play again. Give yourself the time to process the upset. It’s okay to be disappointed, sad, frustrated and even angry at first. The best thing for parents, friends, family and coaches to do is to bring as much understanding and compassion to the situation as possible.

When you’re dealing with a student athlete who has a passion and love for the game and has spent their whole life playing a sport and then has a season-ending injury, the last thing they want to hear initially is ‘you’ll bounce back from this’. Just listen and let a little time pass.

Set new goals

Redefine your role and focus

Once you have had time to process the disappointment, it’s important to re-frame this experience and focus on what you can control and contribute to your team. In this case, Jenna asked herself, “although I can’t be a leader on the field, what can I do from the sidelines as a captain/leader/teammate to help my team?”

Examples include: spending extra time after practice with a player who is struggling with their shot or helping a player with their dribbling. It could include taking the time to have 1-on-1 conversations with some of the players and letting them know what a great job they’re doing, encouraging them to do their best. By being engaged in the game and encouraging her teammates Jenna was able to “not get caught up in the past and what could have been.”

Create new opportunities

Student athletes can sometimes define themselves as just a “soccer player” or a “basketball player” and lose sight of the bigger picture. When you are faced with a season-ending injury it causes you to see that you are much more than just the sport that you play. You have other talents and have the choice to start setting new goals and create new opportunities.  For example, you may find that after going to physical therapy to recover from your injury that you now want to get into sports medicine.

Keeping the passion for the game

Just because you can no longer play your sport does not mean you cannot be a part of it. You could get into coaching, become a sports broadcaster, or even work for a professional team in public relations.

The point is the love and passion for the game does not have to go away, you just might have to walk through another door to find it.

What have you learned in dealing with a season-ending injury? Share in the comment box below or connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

Life Lessons from a Season-Ending Injury is a post from: Copyright 2010 Ed Gerety's Dream Big Blog

Timothy Roback is a 7th grader at East Jordan Middle School in East Jordan, Michigan and is the activity coordinator for a club at his school called The Shoe Club. The club is designed to inspire students to work hard, set goals, dream big and to give back to other people. I asked him to be a guest blogger on my blog and share his experience of being a part of such an important project. Also, check out the cool video by his great teacher Matt Hamilton who gives you an inside look at The Shoe Club.

“In our life there are two types of people; good role models, and bad role models. The “Shoe Club” is a club to teach kids how to be a good role model and inspire people themselves, just like their role models before them. One motto we have is, invest in yourself and invest in others. This means to always be helpful. But don’t go too far, as in when you have no time for yourself or just trying to please someone else. The Shoe Club has taught me a ton of stuff on being a better person, always doing the right thing and dreaming big! I would like to share some of those things with you. First and foremost, some members of the Shoe Club went on a trip to Chicago in February. During this trip I had quite a bit of fun, but that isn’t the main thing I took out of that trip. The two main things I did take out of that trip are; 1.) I met some amazing people from around the Country that were very good at sharing their ideas with me and all of my peers. 2.) The new leadership and community service ideas I got from it. I would never think I could have that much fun while learning new stuff! It was nothing like I had expected! Another thing we do in the Shoe Club is to go to our local care facility, Grandvue Medical Center. We go there to keep all of the residents company. There are many people there that fight a battle everyday and most people don’t know about it. I really enjoyed going there to visit with the older folks, playing bingo with them and hearing some great stories about their past. Both of these trips have taught me a lot about leadership from two different standpoints; a leading one and a caring form of leadership. This is why I joined the club, to learn. I like learning and this club has made it a fun experience, just like in Chicago.

Right now we are planning a custodian appreciation day. This is a day where we try to make it special for the custodians of our school by making their job easier throughout the day. I really do believe that the Shoe Club impacts the lives of all the students engaged with it. Some day, I hope it will impact the world, and I think it has the ability to do so! “ – Timothy Roback

Here is The Shoe Club video

Shoe Club Inspiration is a post from: Copyright 2010 Ed Gerety's Dream Big Blog

per-se-ver-ance [pur-suh-veer-uh ns]

–noun 1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

Often times after one my presentations students will come up to me and want to ask me a question. What’s interesting is that the majority of the time it’s never a question that they want to ask. Instead, they just want to share their story and have someone truly listen. No judgment, no advice, just someone to hear their story with an open mind and heart. Afterwards they always ask me to share their story with others in the hope that it will help and inspire someone else.

The stories that I have heard over the past twenty years from teenagers and adults have had a profound impact on my life. When I share those stories they remind all of us about so many life lessons. One of the biggest being – perseverance. Here is an example.

I met Christopher R., a senior at a high school that I was speaking at last week in Pennsylvania. He grew up in a dysfunctional family, was abused until the age of twelve, had to move, and missed 50+ days of school in the 6th grade. He was placed in foster care where, even there, they did not provide clothing or other needs like hygiene products. After seeing so many other kids in the foster home go to new homes before he did, he grew very frustrated, but kept his positive attitude.

After five and a half years of foster care, he moved back to his mother’s house, where after 4 months, he had to move out because of difficulties with his mom. For the past year, his senior year, he has been living with a roommate in a house just outside of town, paying his own rent and expenses. Christopher is doing all of this while going to school and taking part in his church ministry. He will be graduating from high school with the most college credits than anyone else in his school.

He has recently signed an eight year contract with the Navy to be a nuclear engineer. I asked him what advice he would give to others and he answered, “To never let your past define your future, have faith, and persevere.”

Perseverance is a post from: Copyright 2010 Ed Gerety's Dream Big Blog

One of the inspiring things about my profession is the extraordinary people that I have the opportunity to meet around the country. This past Monday was a perfect example. I had the privilege to speak at The University of Southern California with all of the student athletes. This was my second time speaking at USC and the experience was just as phenomenal. Every person that I met in the athletic department was first class and went out of their way to make me feel welcome. The student athletes from the football team to the volleyball team were an incredible audience and very kind.

In my presentation, “Playing Big in the Game of Life” I talked with them about being a leader and making a difference in their community. I shared with them the power of living and leading your life with gratitude, respect, and the law of reciprocity. A law that reminds us to “do unto others as you would have others do unto you” and that what we give out comes back.

One of the student athletes that I met after my presentation is doing just that. His name is Greg Woodburn, and he is a distance runner on the USC Track & Field team. In November of 2006 he started a shoe donation program called “Share Our Soles” (S.O.S). The program is dedicated to collecting, and then washing and donating used (but in good condition) running shoes to underprivileged youth in distant nations and local inner-city communities. By providing these children — many of whom have never before owned a pair of shoes — with running shoes, S.O.S. aims to encourage a love for running and in turn spread its many benefits, from positive self-esteem and increased confidence to improved health and new friendships. To this date S.O.S has collected, cleaned, and distributed 3,107 pairs of running shoes.

Greg’s program is making a world of difference to deserving youth from Los Angeles to Mexico to as far away as Africa by giving them a chance to “lace ’em up, to take a step forward — and never stop running”. He is an example of one person making a difference and living an extraordinary life.

To find out more about this amazing program and how you can help visit:

http://shareoursoles.org

USC On The Run…. is a post from: Copyright 2010 Ed Gerety's Dream Big Blog

http://snipurl.com/7s4fy

Our son Ryan is turning four years old next week. It’s amazing how
quickly the four years have gone by and how our baby is now our little
boy.

This got me thinking about just how powerful the number 4 is. It
takes four years to graduate from high school and look how much
changes from when you start out as a freshman to when you become a
senior and graduate. I went to college for four years and the
friendships, experiences, and lessons learned in those 4 years
impacted my life forever.

When I look at the personal and professional goals that I set for
myself the majority of them are set in the increments of 4. What are
my goals for the next 4 weeks? What are my goals for the next 4
months? And what are my goals for the next 4 years?

How much has your life changed in 4 years? How much has it changed
over the past four seasons?

Because four is a fantastic number and to celebrate our son turning
this special number I’m making my book, “Combinations: Opening the
Door to Student Leadership” available for $4. per copy *plus shipping.

So I invite you to celebrate with us! You can order as many books as
you like. You can order 1, 4 or even 400!

It’s a great gift to give someone for the holidays or a great way to
reward your students and inspire them to keep reaching for their goals
as we go into 2009.

I will gladly sign each copy as well.

Thanks for reading. This offer will end Friday December 19th. After
that it will be gone 4-ever.

Here is where you can order your copy:

http://snipurl.com/7s4fy

Celebrate 4 With Us is a post from: Copyright 2010 Ed Gerety's Dream Big Blog