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Finding Our Grit

March 31
by
Talia Holze
in
Overcoming Challenges
with
.

The key word to focus on in this statement alone is ‘grit.’ We will not be able to win on talent alone. He did not say we are never going to win a game.

 

%tags Overcoming Challenges Sports If this were the case we may as well all toss in the towel and never look back. The conversation was started with the obvious intention to figure out what we need to do to take games from teams who physically outmatch us, because it is possible.

The trick is to accept that it is not possible to win if we continue on the same path, while keeping faith that if we commit to making change, we can and will win.

The brutal truth is that we are outmatched on paper.

B1G ten volleyball teams are built to be larger than life girls who are great jumpers, with powerful swings, and heavy serves. Winning teams in the B1G ten get the top physical recruits in the nation. We don’t happen to be that team. We’re not going to magically jump touch a foot higher than we do now to match the teams we are playing against.

None of us are going to grow five inches either. These are all things we know to be true. But we went neck and neck with a lot of these teams, falling short time and time again by tiny margins. So what tips the scale in our favor? Every uphill battle to ever exist has been won at the fighting fists of people who not only possess but understand and live their lives through one principle; grit.

Grit calls for a steel backbone and an unwavering and unafraid resolve driven by passion and purpose.

For the uphill battle winners, the saying, “Success comes to those who wait.” is a load of crap. They live their lives knowing that the hill is conquered by those who outwork yesterday’s best today. They continue to strive for this day after day. Yet through this grueling and time consuming process they still possess a level of passion to warrant patience while climbing. Patience is essential for the climb; waiting is not. The reality of the situation is we can no longer wait and stare up in awe from the bottom of the hill at teams who have reached the top. We need a direction to go, preferably up.

In the book Good to Great, by Jim Collins, to become a great team, the right people have to be “on the bus.” I believe the right people are. We’ve done the grueling practices, and long days in the gym, exhausting traveling weekends, staying up until the early hours of the morning in the hotel lobby finishing schoolwork.

However, so have the teams we compete against. Beyond this I am confident the right people are on our bus because above all else, those of us who remain have chosen to stay on board. Our past competition season was the ultimate test. The players struggled, the coaches struggled, some people left the bus, and others were kicked off.

What we are left with is a bus at a stand still, full of people that have chosen not to get off despite these struggles.

For that reason alone the remaining members of this team possess the grit and faith that we need to win. The piece of the puzzle we were missing is now staring us in the face. We will not win on talent alone. Confronted with this truth, we keep the faith that we will win, go back to the drawing board, and figure out how to begin the climb. The only direction left to go is up.

 

God’s Voice Directing My College Transfer

January 19
by
Kitan Ajanaku
in
Faith
with
.

(Written by Kitan Ajanaku)

3 years ago, around this time, I made a decision that would completely change my life.

I was a redshirt freshman volleyball player at Long Beach State University and my dreams of making an impact on that program had been crushed. I was not tall enough for my position, my skills were subpar, I was too stiff, I couldn’t relax, my learning curve was too slow: these were all things that my head coach and my negative self talk had continuously repeated to myself.

Who was I kidding? I wasn’t good enough to compete in the West Coast. My mind had been shattered by anxiety and depression, and the confident, kick-ass athlete that I had always been disintegrated into someone I could not recognize. But my will and strength were not completely gone. I still had my Heavenly Father who had never left me alone.

I prayed for an answer.

I knew what I had to do to get control of my life and continue my dream of playing Division 1 College Volleyball. I decided to transfer. I knew I had to leave but I had a family in Long Beach. My teammates were my sisters and leaving them would be one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do.

I emailed about 20 mid major programs and went on 5 visits within a two-week span. This was hectic but I knew it would be worth it. When I visited Georgia State, the concrete city that is downtown Atlanta was not a selling point as I was used to Palm trees and sunshine in Southern California. It was an option, but definitely not at the top.

I visited schools in Florida and Northern California, and had plans to visit South Carolina. One night, I heard His voice. God told me that Georgia State was where I would find my home.

I was confused.

I had always wanted volleyball to be the number one reason why I would go to a school and GSU had the worst record out of all the schools I was considering, but He was persistent and for the first time in my life I knew it was Him and I listened.

I will forever remember the night that listening to God changed my life. I transferred to Georgia State and my life changed for the best. I returned to my true self and conquered my depression and anxiety.

Not everything was perfect when I moved to Atlanta, because many things were hard, but God provided me with so many blessings in my new home. I was blessed with a new volleyball family and sisters that I could not imagine my life without, I met the love of my life, and discovered my passion for law and child advocacy.

But the biggest blessing was finding my worth outside of being an athlete. I can almost 100% say that none of this would have happened had I not listened to God.

In His will, He holds all of our dreams and desires. His plan for our lives will always be the better plan.

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