But I can't help but think back over the past year, last year at this time I was battling ovarian cancer as well as some professional challenges. My condition left me weak and fearful of traveling. My last trip was to Atlanta, Georgia in late June/early July for the Junior National Championship with my U17 and U16 teams. I was still having chemo with a final treatment scheduled when I returned. I loved every minute of it and enjoyed the girls immensely but my body ached every moment. I think back now and can not believe I have made it through, regardless of anything in my life I am alive and healthy, I live every day joyful of God's protection and the lessons He taught me along the way.
Today, as I sit in the T.G.I Fridays, I think "what a difference a year makes"! I am excited to be flying, knowing I am capable of handling any unforeseen circumstances. I'm anxious to attend the coaching clinics and to be rejuvenated by spending time with others who are just as passionate as myself. I am happy to see a good friend who happens to live there. And I am back on track with the vision I have had for this club.
This past year solidified my vision for Southwind Rising, I have always envisioned a club that trained and developed elite athletes and nationally competitive teams and did so while teaching the best of who we are meant to become. In a world full of sports scandals, I just read an article on the plane about a defense attorney who defends professional athletes who have gotten themselves in trouble, and questionable character in our own small volleyball community that it is some times hard to justify participating in youth sports at all. But I am certain that this is where I am meant to be.
As I worked through this past year, from my initial diagnosis, to professional challenges, to chemo treatments, to re-developing and re-branding the club I realized I have used all the qualities I want to teach our athletes. Words like Courage, Honesty, Integrity, Character, Fight, Determination have deeper meaning and as I look around this world we need to use all we have at our disposal to teach and train these qualities.
My hope is that people can look at this organization from myself down to the coaches and on to the players and their families and see these qualities. We are in a rebuilding year, we have talented athletes who need more volleyball training, but it will come through commitment, dedication, and hard work. When I wanted to give up, it was my years of training as an athlete that would not allow me to quit and lay down. These qualities are all a part of success and I know, from personal experience, that they are success in and of themselves. As the season begins and we see the challenges that face us I know that if we all make a commitment to become better, if we all dedicate our time and energy, if we all work hard success will follow.
Teaching and training takes time, it doesn't happen over night, you can not cheat to get to the top. If you do cheat in order to reach the goal of winning then it is not really winning. I recently posted a Nike commercial on our club's Facebook page that features Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, Canadian track star, she makes a comment "a true athlete is someone who can take a win and take a defeat... it's not gonna be easy". But doing things the "right" way makes you a winner, being honesty, staying positive, and treating others with respect shows true character. At the end of the day you have to be able to look your opponents in the eye, win, lose, or draw. Avoiding eye contact shows shame and embarrassment, being a person of integrity gives you the ability and confidence of looking someone in the eyes.
It was a rough year but in the end there was purpose in the challenges. With renewed strength and a return to the original vision Southwind Volleyball is rising... welcome to the "new" Southwind Rising.
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