A Note to the High School Athlete, From: Your Strength Coach

This is just a quick note from me that may not make sense to you until many years down the road. The word “Coach” is synonymous with responsibility. It is a privilege to Coach: to help shape lives, breed character, and expose an “inner potential” that may otherwise lie dormant in the shadows of self-doubt. Beyond the grind, sweat, iron, chalk, and calluses, I hope you found time to embrace the journey. For it is the quality of the effort that true success is found. I hope that you enjoyed the experience and not only became stronger, but learned to seek improvement each and every day of your life: to live with a “One Day Better” mentality. To embrace the grind!

I do understand that on certain days my tone was less favorable, but please comprehend my logic. I believe in “fair” treatment not “equal” treatment. Not everyone gets a trophy! Athletes’ are treated the way the “earn” and “deserve” to be treated. If you work hard, pay attention to detail, and have a positive attitude life will throw you oranges. If not, please don’t blame anyone else. As a Coach, I always wanted to ensure that you had balance. Life is a big bowl of whip cream and mud. If you had too much mud in your bowl, I wanted to provide you with the whip cream so that you could realize your inner potential. If you had too much whip cream, I may have thrown a little mud in the bowl just to make sure you stayed hungry, remained thankful and humble. In the end, my goal was to make you a better athlete, and a better person.

 

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to work with you, to advance my craft, and to learn. It was a rewarding experience that shaped my life and has added to the culture and history of our gym. I hope you feel the same way. I will end this note with my favorite quote from Horace Greeley: “Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, and riches take wings. Only one thing endures and that is character.”

 

Sincerely,

Your Strength Coach

 

 

Anthony Donskov, MS, CSCS, PES, is a former collegiate and professional hockey player, founder of Donskov Strength and Conditioning Inc., (www.donskovsc.com) and Head Instructor/Director of Off-Ice Strength and Conditioning for Donskov Hockey Development (www.donskovhockey.com). He can be reached at info@donskovsc.com This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

 

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Anthony Donskov, MS, CSCS, PES, is a former collegiate and professional hockey player, founder of Donskov Strength and Conditioning Inc., (www.donskovsc.com) and Head Instructor/Director of Off-Ice Strength and Conditioning for Donskov Hockey Development (www.donskovhockey.com