Minooka Girls Basketball

One Mind. One Heart. One Goal.

 

This is not just something we say—this is something we live and we do. A true team will always function as one: together we think, together we work, together we achieve.

 

The pathway to success in athletics is a combination of mental toughness and competitive intelligence. It is foolish to expect perfection, but to demand we learn from missteps and use them as a guide to move forward is the ultimate objective. As we say “one mind” we are simply putting the onus on ourselves to play free of the fear of mistakes because they give us a chance to learn and make ourselves better. When we say “one mind” we are declaring to our teammates and ourselves that we intend to play with the simple focus of “do your job.” When everyone plays their little part in something big, incredible things can happen.

 

To play without passion is to have never played at all. We play basketball because of the thrill in competing, because of the passion to succeed, because we love it. Let that love show. Recognize the privilege it is to compete and be out on that floor; opportunities like this don’t last forever. Know in your heart that we push through sweat, mistakes, triumphs, failures, lines, and pain because we cherish the opportunity to play. We say “one heart” to remind ourselves daily of the chance we have been given. We leave everything on the floor every time we play so that anyone watching knows that we appreciate the moment, the opportunity before us. Aristotle once said, “wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.” I say embrace your passion, and always—I mean always—show…your…heart.

 

The mind and the heart drive your team down the road to success. The final component is knowing exactly where you want that road to end. Your destination is established collectively, so that all involved have the same purpose, the same vision. We say “one goal” to redirect focus to our desired outcome. Little by little we get better; day by day we get a little bit closer; in the end, we have achieved what we want, or have the reasons we didn’t.

 

Whether we rise or we fall, we win or we lose, we succeed or we fail—we do it all together. A team is a collection of individuals working together to achieve a desired outcome. Failing to achieve that goal does not make us any less of a team. Don’t be divided over wins and losses—be united in focus, passion, and purpose.

 

 

 

One Mind. One Heart. One Goal.