Personal ownership

The single most unifying trait among athletes at Victory School of Wrestling is personal ownership. A large percentage of those who choose to participate in the opportunities we offer have already started to take ownership in and responsibility for their actions, decisions and influences. The mark of a champion is being able to take responsibility for their life. It's part of the internal structure of those who engage and change; who make progress and succeed.

I'm in a unique position as a coach because I have the good fortune of being able to work almost exclusively with athletes that crave more than the minimum requirement. They're already striving for excellence, so I don't play a very large roll in needing to externally motivate them. I still do, though. They may be internally motivated (personal ownership), but I can help direct them and coach their heart and spirit so they can understand who they were created to be and can stay on the right path.

In athletics, personal ownership focuses primarily on the actions that affect the outcomes of competition. At Victory, this is only a small part of the equation. Personal ownership needs to move beyond scores and statistics and into the essence of who someone is. You have to own who you are so you can own who you will become.

I encourage my athletes to take ownership of who they are as well as the choices the make. They need to be able to keep from telling themselves a story that defers responsibility. They need to tell the truth. They need to be real with who they are. We all have an internal narrative that keeps us from doing this. It's easier to shift the blame and point fingers. It's difficult to admit that responsibility may have been on your own shoulders. You must know who you are if you ever want to break that trend.

The personal ownership we seek demands identity before activity. When you know who you are, you'll know what to do.