"The Biggest Heart in the World"

Back in 1999, I had the opportunity to meet,hang out with and interview Tyrell Brandon and Travis Best from the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers respectively. Both these players played in the NBA, the highest level of Basketball in the World, and Best coached under the Legendary Larry Bird.

Now here's the thing, they were both 5'11 in height and one of the shortest players in the league. So I asked them, "What does it take for guys your height to play in the NBA next to 6"6 giants?'. They both looked at each other and and said simultaneously, "You gotta have the BIGGEST heart in the world!" When asked what this meant, they went on to explain, they trained twice as hard, twice as much, ran three times more, practiced shooting and rebounding millions of times and then worked out in the gym daily, just to be in the team.

Travis told me that in the NBA, they were likened to a snappy little dog, constantly yapping and hounding the big players and NEVER letting them have a moment of respite. "We were always up against players bigger than us, so we needed to WANT that ball more, fight for it, defend for it, jump for it, run for it and when we got it, never,never,never waste it.

In sports, as in most things in life, people see the heart and soul you put into your work to be the best. It ain't easy and when you're number 1, you're the benchmark. Everyone wants to beat YOU.

This is where WE need to be. COMMITTED. I work with kids from 8 and above, who look at the lifestyle of Cristiano,Wayne, Lionel, Federer, Nadal, Contador etc and wants the riches. What about the work? This is where the parents need to come in and encourage and motivate and be stubborn about it. That's right, stubborn. The kids need to train. Just like studies, they need tuition, revision, tests etc. Sports requires the same. Think of every training session as a tuition session. A friendly match as a revision. A tournament or league as an exam. We may win or lose the tournament under pressure to succeed, but we learn from it. Your kid is not going to be World Champion at 10, but it sets the tone for what is to come when he's 20.

And this is not specifically only catered to athletes but also sports administrators. Nicol David and Shalin Zulkifli emerged from properly planned and executed ideas.

In my next blog, I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about. For now though, Happy Birthday to my good mate and Spurs fan, Gareth in Japan.