Title Change For BATC

After much deliberation my coauthor and I have decided to make a change in the title of our book. The purpose of this change is to bring more focus and direct more attention to the larger market for which Becoming a True Champion was written. Now the title speaks loudly about its purpose just as the book itself speaks directly to whom it will benefit. Our new title:

Becoming a True Champion: Achieving Athletic Excellence From the Inside Out

Kirk Mango "Live" on The Sports Doctor

Please join me and host Dr. Weil on his radio show The Sports Doctor for our discussion on several aspects of my book Becoming a True Champion, success in sports, raising college athletes, and generally anything related to youth sports. I am excited about appearing on his show and would appreciate any time you might give to listen. Below I have included the date and time of the show and an on-line link for those unable to tune into 90.9 WDCB FM in the Chicagoland area. Additionally, I have included a link to the book’s website which also details this information.

I would be honored by any listener feedback. Thanks!!!

Upcoming Radio Interview
The Sports Doctor
Who: Author Kirk Mango
Where: 90.9 WDCB FM Radio
When: Thursday February 19th, 2009
6:30 p.m. Central Time
What: Becoming a True Champion

Listen in On-line: Kirk Mango Interview

Forthcoming Book Website Link: Becoming a True Champion

The “True Champion” Code

I will

- Consistently, and without reservation, strive to reach my full potential.

- Be committed and disciplined in my approach.

- Take personal responsibility, and any action necessary, to achieve team and individual goals.

- Demonstrate a deep desire to succeed, applying passion and heart to any and every task at hand.

- Show an impeccable and relentless work ethic that only true dedication provides.

- Set priorities, and make the required sacrifices, that enhance the chances for athletic success.

- Persevere through adversity with a positive attitude and concentration that strives toward excellence and mastery.

- Establish a mindset that highly encourages the belief and confidence that one can accomplish anything, if they are so willing.

- Apply a training and competitive focus that creates the opportunity to transform the impossible into the possible.

All set on a foundation of strong character and integrity that beseeches one to do the right thing just because it is the right thing to do

And so you may ask – “Why follow a code of such standard?”

Because I believe I can make a difference

And because I believe it

Then it is something I should do

Because it is something I should do

Then it is something I will do

So I toil and sweat both through the good days and the bad

Chipping away at any weakness that following the code may reveal within

Creating inspiration from athletic experiences of days gone by

From future experiences that have yet to occur

And from those who may someday attempt to walk the same path

Never giving up

Never giving in

And never swaying – but for a moment

From the Code of a True Champion

“Why?”, again, one might ask

Simply – Because I can!!!

                                 Kirk Mango 2009

Is a loss always just a loss? Not necessarily

Normally I try to keep my articles and blog posts specific to athletes as a whole and shy away from making them directly personal. However, I recently had the opportunity, and pleasure, of witnessing an example of the true caring discussed in my last blog article Four Attributes That Lead To Athletic Greatness. This vivid example occurred at the culmination of a volleyball match between the University of Louisville, the team my daughter plays for, and highly-ranked Purdue University during the first round of the NCAA tournament. Louisville lost in a hotly-contested 5-game match where lead exchanges occurred throughout. Yet, after watching the match unfold, in addition to seeing the personal and team growth and development the coaching staff promoted and encouraged during the season, I was left with a question, “was this loss really a loss or a beginning?” Oh yes, the scoreboard did read 16 – 14 Purdue at the end of the 5th and deciding game, giving the Boilermakers the go-ahead win into the second round, but the end of the story, hmmm – I am not so sure that will be the case here. From my perspective, I do believe that this particular “loss” may truly represent something much more than an end. That is if I am reading correctly what I saw written on the faces and in the eyes of the Louisville girls after the game as they re-entered the gym from their post-game locker room meeting.

Four Attributes That Lead To Athletic Greatness

Have you ever gone to a sporting event and noticed that the better players, the ones who stand out head and shoulders above the rest, all seem to have something in common with each other? That they, for some reason, tend to play harder, show more emotion, demonstrate a high level of skill, can consistently perform at an elevated level and seem to be the players, or player, that a team rallies around and looks to for their success. You know who I am speaking of, the ones that make a difference.

Part II: It’s All In Your Point of View – An athlete’s perspective can make all the difference

In part I of It’s All In Your Point of View, I detailed a discussion my friend Jim and I had on the way home from a tennis match recently. This discussion centered its focus on the differences between our perspectives on our collegiate sports experiences compared to many of today’s youths, and their parents’, perspective. My purpose was to help answer the question, Why are their perspectives so different? Below is a list of several intrinsic-type components that, in my mind, help an athlete develop a better more positive perspective and, in the end, bring more enjoyment and fulfillment back to them. At least if they stay much more focused in these areas as their reasoning behind why they play.

Quote of the Month

"Be an athlete who chooses their own path becoming one who makes a difference, and part of a team’s solution, otherwise your path will be chosen for you and instead of being a solution you become part of a team's problem."

Part I: It’s All In Your Point of View – An athlete’s perspective can make all the difference

I was on my way home from a tennis match with a friend of mine (we both play for our club team here in Naperville Illinois), and we struck up a conversation regarding our own personal experiences and perspectives on college athletic participation. We were both college athletes, he was a ball player at SIU and I a gymnast at NIU. What I found most interesting about our conversation was that both of us had the same viewpoint on how we saw our collegiate athletic experience. Basically, neither of us could even imagine going through college without sports; that we truly enjoyed the experience, felt we gained a tremendous amount from it, and would most certainly do it all over again if given the opportunity. Two athletes, two different times, two different sports, but with the exact same perspective. Interesting, especially since I hear so much of the opposite from other parents who have kids playing sports at that level. This is in addition to the good number of athletes themselves who are currently involved (or were involved) in college athletics and who echo these same opposing sentiments. I, as did my friend Jim, find this to be a little sad and a little disconcerting to say the least.

The Olympics Are Upon Us: And what a “Games” it will be!!!!

Another four years has come and gone since the summer games of 2004 in Athens. My enthusiasm has certainly waned a little from what it was in my younger days, due in large part to the influx of professional athletes. (There was just something to be said for overcoming the adversity our amateur athletes faced in the old days.) However, there are several individuals/events/sports that have truly sparked my interest and motivation. I am looking forward to seeing how all the stories unfold. Here are my own picks for the games and why:

Excellence in Sports: Five Questions You, The Athlete, Should Ask Yourself

What is it that truly separates the average athlete from the good or the good athlete from the great? If you answered that question with the word “talent,” I would say that that is only a small part of the equation. Muhammad Ali once said, “Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.” Yes, skill (or development thereof) does have some basis in talent; however, the real message in that quote goes way beyond sheer talent, and even the skills of a sport (which can be learned and improved on). The key is in that last sentence, “the will must be stronger than the skill.” The power in that quote is exemplified in those last eight words.

Striving for athletic perfection, Good or Bad?

There is some debate on whether perfection is a concept that athletes should strive for. If you Google striving for sports perfection, you will certainly find a variety of information detailing both sides of this issue. Much of this information centers on whether the attitude toward perfection is of the maladaptive or adaptive variety, the latter being preferred. After reading through several of these articles, and relating it to my own personal experience with this concept, I find that a person’s own belief system and how they themselves view the idea of striving for athletic perfection makes all the difference.

Video Demonstration of a "True Champion"

My coauthor, Daveda Lamont, recently sent me the link to this youtube video depicting what she felt exemplifies many of the principles discussed in Becoming a True Champion. I wholeheartedly agree! Dustin Carter truly demonstrates an awe inspiring commitment to becoming the best he can be. The path he has chosen and, most importantly, the process he will go through to travel this path will be of tremendous intrinsic reward and value to him no matter what happens.

Part 2: Specialization in Youth Sports, Good or Bad?

I suppose the best answer to this question of specialization in sports (and I know I might get some grief for this) is that there really is no best or right answer, at least no right answer for everyone and every situation. There are just too many variables in order for one answer to truly be beneficial for all. In fact, doing so would not only be inappropriate but completely unfair to the athlete and/or situation they might be faced with. So, even though it might seem vague at first, let’s start with some general guidelines (and I do mean general; some will even come up with scenarios that would simply not fit these general guidelines either).

Steroids in Professional Sports and Youth Sports, WHY?

It is in the wake of the Mitchell Report, which sheds light on the pervasive use of performance-enhancing substances (Steroids, HGH, etc.) in professional baseball, that I direct this blog's attention to an article in the Sports Parenting e-magazine titled Denial, Apathy, and Win-at-All-Costs Sports Culture Fuels Steroid Abuse by Bruce Svare, Ph.D, http://www.parentsforgoodsports.org/iPages.tpl?pg=articles/steroidAbuse.

In his article, Dr. Svare provides good insight into the “why” behind steroid use in sports today and suggests an approach that will decrease and deter the risk of their use by young athletes.

Perspective in Youth Sports Today

As a teacher, former coach, National Champion, and two-time All-American (and father of two Division I scholarship athletes), I have been genuinely saddened by the loss of perspective in sports, especially youth sports, and the lack of understanding about how athletic success is achieved. What our young sports enthusiasts should be learning by going through this process and what they are learning are two different things.