Our work at the The 3rd Element has focused on teaching high school and college athletes better leadership, teamwork, and emotional intelligence skills. We always believed we could make a meaningful difference in the mental side of the game beyond the X’s and O’s or the physical skills of the athletes.
In fact, we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from coaches saying that they have been trying to incorporate leadership training into their season, but often don’t have time with their busy schedules. Our student-athletes have told us that they never realized how important our lessons were to their ultimate performance both on the court and in the classroom. We know we are on the path to creating a positive impact by teaching athletes skills that last after the ball stops bouncing.
While that all sounds great, we just received feedback that showed an even greater impact and that there truly is #moretothegame. We talked to a dad about how our 3E training is going for his high school son. The father described how his son is typical in a lot of ways… he talks very little at home to his parents or sister, he sees school as something to endure, and he can’t wait to move on to the next phase of his life. However, his son is not typical in that he is likely going to be receiving a full scholarship to play at a powerhouse Division 1 program.
Where the #moretothegame moment came in was when the father said,
“Thank you! My son now talks to us. He is nicer to his sister because he understands the importance of respecting others. His grades are improving because he now sets goals based on the 3E training. Thank you! I only wish we had gone through this process earlier!”
Wow! Good on the son for taking personal ownership to make some positive changes. We are glad to play a small role.
The leadership, teaming, and emotional skills are not just helpful to team relationships, but are also helpful beyond sports to help prepare kids and young adults for jobs and relationships.
It’s moments like this that make all the hard work worth it!
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