The SBA Way Newsletter #7
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One of my former coaches in college just released a book entitled “To The Hilt”. The hilt mentioned in the title was used as an example during my junior season in college where we were able to go 30-4 and win a National Championship. I was fortunate enough to start my junior year and play in every game. This season would teach me more lessons that I would ever imagine.!
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The hilt is an item on a spear, knife, or a similar sharp weapon that protected the hand of the holder. In battle they would simply use their weapon to stab their opponent all the way through “To The Hilt”. I know some must think, wow, this is kind of gory and probably not the best example to use for a bunch of college kids, but it is something we strived for everyday. To play every play all the way through and give our very best!!
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That phrase simply means all the way through, giving nothing but your best every day. Our coach used this phrase to show us that he expected nothing but our best every day and that if we practiced everyday to the hilt, we will become great players and ultimately a great team. He also taught us that we need to live to the hilt, worship to the hilt, and be a great father to the hilt. If we did this, we would play, live, worship, and father the best we could. !
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I would like to thank each and every coach who is impacting the lives of young people. you never know what phrase, theme, or chant can help someone be a better father, player, worker, etc. It may be a stupid little phrase you come up, or a little theme you thought would be catchy. you never know what impact it will make. !
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Caleb Marcum! Director of Athletics!
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Season Update
! Baseball ! The baseball team under Coach Steve Heinz has had a tremendous season so far and is currently ranked #4 in the state of Tennessee in D2. They are also ranked #7 in the Dandy Dozen with a record of 17-3. The Eagles have a lot of arms that have been lights out with a combined earned run average of 2.0. They also are getting big contributions at the plate where they are scoring an averaged of 7 runs per game. The eagles are primed to make a run as the region cranks up in the next two weeks. !
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Softball! The Lady Eagles Softball team is off to a 17-4 start. This includes a first place finish at the MTSCA tournament in Columbia, TN this past March. They are currently ranked #4 in the Softball Super 6. Top hitters to this point are: Lizzie Ryan: .613 BA 7HR's and 21 RBI, Paige Murin: .480 BA 2 HR's and 19 RBI and Grace Sweat: .500 BA 2 Hr's and 11 RBI. Kendal Pearson leads a balanced pitching staff with a 6-1 record and a 0.80 ERA. Sarah McClain is 4-2 with a 1.35 ERA. The Lady Eagles still have tournaments in Nashville and Knoxville before starting region play the last week of April. !
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Boys Soccer! The Boys Soccer Team kicked off their season with a win at Harding. They were able to seal the deal with a 3-0 victory. Coach Nick Dressman is excited about the potential of his team and looks to build off a good season last spring. The Eagles hold a current record of 4-2-1 with big wins over Kingsbury, Cordova, and Briarcrest. Luke Parker leads the Eagles with 4 goals in the last three games, while the defensive line headed by Senior Zayrion Harris is starting to take shape. !
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Track and Field! The SBA Track & Field team had some great performances at a recent meet at MUS which included 13 schools with 803 athletes. The boys 4x800 race with Lane Martin, Jake Coppedge, Ricky Carrasco and Ray Wynne ran to an amazing 2nd place finish. Ray then pulled off an exciting win in the 1600m. As for the girls, freshman Meghan Underwood placed first in the 800m, running an elite time of 2:23.05, which is the best time ever run during a regular season meet at MUS. Rachel Hale also ran a great race and finished second, close behind Meghan. The fun continued as the 4x400 proved to be the most exciting race of all as Anna Schuman, Catherine May, Rachel and Meghan fought hard to the very end and snagged the win. The team heads over to Houston High School this weekend for a two-day meet which is typically the biggest meet in the state with over 35 schools participating. !
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Tennis! Under the guidance of Coach Hervey, Brooke Barton is leading the Lady Eagles Tennis in wins. Freshman Macy Granger is bringing a lot of excitement to the team. The lady eagles are 4-4 and 1-1 in Region.The boys are 1-5, but are competitive in most matches. They will be playing CBHS on Friday, April 10. The JV Team is 5-0-1 with a big win over ECS and Knighthawks. Juliette Hirsch, Finn Mullen and Katelyn Dabney are leading the way for the JV Tennis Team.!
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! Trap and Skeet! Your Eagle Trap Team continues to improve during it's sophomore season. Led by tenth graders Annie Longoria (2nd place varsity in February) and Ivan Scheidhauer (95 out of 100 in March), the Eagles are making a name for themselves in West Tennessee. Veteran shooters like Braxton Brewster, Sam Childers, Mary-Catherine Wade and Hunter Drost are also seeing vast improvement this season. The trap team will be competing in regional shoots in April and May before heading to Nashville for the State Shoot at the end of June. Come out and support the SBA Trap Team at MSSA in Arlington, TN.!
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Water Polo! Water Polo is off to a great start! Their record is 4-0 and the goal is continue that progress all the way to the State Tournament! The Eagles started their season with a strong win against last years State Champs, St George’s Gryphons. Some of the standout players this season are: JD Dudek, Ray Wynne, Brett Wagner, Matthew Barczak and Abbie Werner. The Eagles have also had some great plays from our bench: Sarah Kutas, Allie Evans, Jessica O’Brien and Matthew Smith. The Eagles are looking forward to the State Tournament May 3 & 4 in Knoxville.!
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Lacrosse! The Lacrosse team picked up a solid victory on Thursday over Arlington High School. This pushes their record to 4-9. They have had solid play from their senior class and continue to get better everyday. Recently, the Lady Eagle Lacrosse team played the first ever indoor lacrosse match at JD SportsPlex. !
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The SBA WAY
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When working with student-athletes, a successful coach will work towards building our culture as a program and as a team. The SBA Way is not about what we do, but how we do what we do. As coaches, we want to create a championship environment, and teach our players to lead an entire team. Each player will understand the SBA Way and our athletic culture. Our culture is explained by the acronym SCHAPE:!
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S - Spirited, enthusiastic, excitement - Our environment will be one that is loud, excited, spirited about what we are doing. Our culture will be full of energy and our coaches will demand it. The difference about championship practices is they are full of sound, they are intense, and everyone is involved.! C - Communication enhances every human experience - Our student-athletes will be leaders not only by example but also in their communication with the coach, teammates and parents. Coaches will teach each student-athlete how to communicate by calling names, delivering valid information, having a positive tone and making eye contact. If our communication follows this format, all communication is done directly, face to face, and not behind each other’s back.! H - Hard work - Working hard is very contagious and we will have a relentless persistence to achieve any goal. We will be the hardest working coaching staff and teams in our league.! A - Approach - Our approach to everything is the attitude we choose to bring to something; the path we take to arrive at our destination. Our approach will be made up of three rules: showing up early, learning something and adding value to our culture. Our teams will be mentally tough which will direct our focus to every situation.! P - Precision - Our student-athletes will have a ridiculous attention to detail. They will be taught to have the discipline to do something as well as it can be done, every single time, even if its uncomfortable or inconvenient (even if the coach isn't looking).! E - Enhance - We will contribute to an environment or unselfishly offer a service. SBA student-athletes will also be asked to leave their environment better than they found it by being contributors rather than contaminators. !
Coaches Corner !
This week’s feature article is from a website I have used to help study mental toughness and how to train kids to be clutch. Many times I find myself reading articles or researching the best way to do things. However, this article explains that we must do more than just passively read or research, we must practice to gain results. The website is t2bc.com.!
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Stop Thinking and Start Doing: The Power of Practicing More By JAMES CLEAR
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We all have goals that we want to achieve in our lives. These goals may include learning a new language, eating healthier and losing weight, becoming a better parent, saving more money, and so on. It can be easy to assume that the gap between where you are now and where you want to be in the future is caused by a lack of knowledge. This is why we buy courses on how to start a business or how to lose weight fast or how to learn a new language in three months. We assume that if we knew about a better strategy, then we would get better results. We believe that a new result requires new knowledge.
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What I’m starting to realize, however, is that new knowledge does not necessarily drive new results. In fact, learning something new can actually be a waste of time if your goal is to make progress and not simply gain additional knowledge. It all comes down to the difference between learning and practicing
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The Difference Between Learning and Practicing In Thomas Sterner’s book, The Practicing Mind (audiobook), he explains the key difference between practicing and learning.
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“When we practice something, we are involved in the deliberate repetition of a process with the intention of reaching a specific goal. The words deliberate and intention are key here because they define the difference between actively practicing something and passively learning it.” —Thomas Sterner, The Practicing Mind
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Learning something new and practicing something new may seem very similar, but these two methods can have profoundly different results. Here are some additional ways to think about the difference.
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Let’s say your goal is to get stronger and more fit. You can research the best instructions on bench press technique, but the only way to build strength is to practice lifting weights. Let’s say your goal is to grow your startup. You can learn about the best way to make a sales pitch, but the only way to actually land customers is to practice making sales calls.
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Let’s say your goal is to write a book. You can talk to a best-selling author about writing, but the only way become a better writer is to practice publishing consistently.
Passive learning creates knowledge. Active practice creates skill.
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Let’s consider three more reasons to prioritize active practice over passive learning.
! 1. Learning Can Be a Crutch That Supports Inaction
In many cases, learning is actually a way to avoid taking action on the goals and interests that we say are important to us. For example, let’s say you want to learn a foreign language. Reading a book on how to learn a foreign language quickly allows you to feel like you are making progress (“Hey, I’m figuring out the best way to do this!”). Of course, you’re not actually practicing the action that would deliver your desired outcome (speaking the foreign language).
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In situations like this one, we often claim that we are preparing or researching the best method, but these rationalizations allow us to feel like we are moving forward when we are merely spinning our wheels. We make the mistake of being in motion rather than taking action. Learning is valuable until it becomes a form of procrastination.
! 2. Practice Is Learning, But Learning Is Not Practice !
Passive learning is not a form of practice because although you gain new knowledge, you are not discovering how to apply that knowledge. Active practice, meanwhile, is one of the greatest forms of learning because the mistakes you make while practicing reveal important insights. Even more important, practice is the only way to make a meaningful contribution with your knowledge. You can watch an online course about how to build a business or
read an article about a terrible disaster in a developing nation, but that knowledge is unproductive unless you actually launch your business or donate to those in need. Learning by itself can be valuable for you, but if you want to be valuable to others, then you have to express your knowledge in some way.
! 3. Practice Focuses Your Energy on the Process “Progress is a natural result of staying focused on the process of doing anything.” —Thomas Sterner, The Practicing Mind
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The state of your life right now is a result of the habits and beliefs that you have been practicing each day. When you realize this and begin to direct your focus toward practicing better habits day-in and day-out, continual progress will be the logical outcome. It is not the things we learn nor the dreams we envision that determines our results, but rather that habits that we practice each day. Fall in love with boredom and focus your energy on the process, not the product.
! The Bottom Line Is passive learning useless? Of course not. In many cases, learning for the sake of learning can be a beautiful thing. Not to mention that soaking up new information can help you make more informed decisions when you do decide to take action.
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That said, the main point of this article is that learning by itself does not lead to progress. We often hide behind information and use learning as an excuse to delay the more difficult and more important choice of actually doing something. Spend less time passively learning and more time actively practicing. Stop thinking and start doing. .entry-content
MOtivation
Future of SBA Athletics
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The St. Benedict Athletic Program has been in the process of creating a vision for our future. On July 1, 2014, the SBA administration sat down with the Catholic Diocese of Memphis to present our possibilities for this vision. In this vision, we wanted a strategic plan that would address the athletic departments needs, while also looking to take our program into the future better equipped to compete at a high level in the state of Tennessee. We are excited to announce that SBA has created that vision for the future. !
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We hope this vision will allow SBA to provide first-class facilities for our student-athletes while also maximizing their potential on and off the field. We have a long way to go, but are extremely excited to get started. See below for a sneak peak of Phase 1 of our football renovations. !
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ST. BENEDICT AT AUBURNDALE MASTER PLAN - VIEW A A2H#14417 - MARCH 23, 2015
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