“There is no substitute for hard work” - Thomas Edison
Last blog post I discussed the foundations of the Devon Prep Basketball Program and what we try to do every day with the hopes that in the long run those little efforts will make a difference. While every one who is successful lives by that approach in one way or another, we really try not to focus on what others do but rather what we can control - what we can do, day in and day out. One of our core foundational values is hard work. Over time, hard work has become the bedrock for Devon Prep Basketball. It is where everything begins. Without that foundational value nothing else is really possible. We would not have it any other way. The athletes in our program LOVE the hard work - they embrace the grind!
The past week was our first week of preseason basketball training. We are a relatively small school with just about 210 students in our high school. We do not allow Fall student-athletes to participate in our preseason training. Even with that restriction, we have 48 young men participating in our fall basketball program. It is remarkable that we have created a family where so many individuals love the grind! For those in our fall basketball program, this is what their week looked like: On Saturday, the juniors and seniors played in a one-day shootout. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday we had strength training and skill work for two hours each session. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings we offered optional skill work before school from 6:30 to 7:45am and on Tuesday afternoon they did yoga. On the weekend we traveled to the Naval Academy, took a fishing trip in the Chesapeake and then played in a six-game shootout at Randolph Macon College before returning to campus to do it again this week.
As we said, everyone who is successful works hard. We are not trying to be better than someone else or some other program. We are trying to be better than we were yesterday. If we can do that - and really the only way to do that is through hard work - then when we look back (if we ever do) we will see tremendous growth and that is what it really is all about.
Roll TIDE!
