You would think that the overpaid and most of the time highly egotistical elite athletes are the leaders, you may even think the heads of sporting organization are, some would even say that it's the passionate sports lover.
Well after twenty years of elite sports coaching, training a player that has reached Grand Slam success and being the owner/manager of a successful tennis academy coaching over two hundred kids per week, I have finally realized that the real leaders in sport are the kids and adults that want to make a difference the ones that dare to dream that they could be a star.
Everyone has varying degrees of passion for sport; it may just be they like watching it on television, listening to sport on the radio, playing or even watching live games. But the real leaders are the ones that get up before dawn, train like there is no tomorrow and then get up the next day and do it all again.
These people inspire others to watch them, support them and then ultimately to be like them. Out of two hundred kids in our programs I can only indentify two leaders, these kids ask and pursue for more they arrive early and leave late.
They work the hardest to develop their skills and they draw the attention of the people around them.
We all know of these leaders, we may have one living next door; they could even be a sibling, son, daughter or even the kid in our local team.
These leaders stand out in a crowd because they show more courage and strength to get up when most stay down.
They are the ones working odd jobs and chores around the home to earn the extra money to buy a new racquet, hockey stick, skates or whatever they need to train with.
I call these leaders the Passionate Skilled because you can have all the talent in the world but without skills you can never be a leader and skills come from hard work and belief.
Next time you see one of these leaders give them a pat on the back because they are the ones that make all sports great.
I would be interested to hear who you think the leaders in sport are.
Leave a comment if you like.
Cheers
Stewart
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