Indeed, patience is a virtue in sports


Lazarus Sauti

The term patience is always used in team and individual sports alike.

For instance, in baseball both the hitter and the pitcher are encouraged to be patient.

That is probably why an uninformed viewer would consider a pitcher/batter duel as boring.

First the pitcher is patiently trying to set the hitter up.

Likewise the hitter is patiently waiting on his pitch to hit.

Basketball players are almost always coached to let the game come to them.

This merely means to be patient and do not force the action.

Running backs in football are considered better if they can run really fast and hard, while patiently waiting for their blocking to develop.

Individual sports like boxing, tennis and even golf speak of the virtues of patience.

This means patience is a critical ingredient to the success of sports teams.

Was it not Bill Cosby, American comedian, television producer and author who said, “In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure?”

Sports administrators, coaches and supporters in the African continent should therefore be patient enough to see African teams develop.

Former Zimbabwe national team coach Klaus Dieter Pagels once said stakeholders in the football fraternity – fans, administrators and the media – need to be patient and support the national team especially in the building phase of a whole new team.

Pagels believed that impatient sports administrators are not health for the development of football.

“Impatient administrators and lack of adequate sponsorship are grips that are halting the improvement of sports,” said Pagels.

Stakeholders in the football industry should not put unnecessary pressure on coaches and players; and football fans and the media need to refrain from hammering players and coaches after every game.

The media should have programmes that advocate for patience from key stakeholders in sports because sports personalities need support even when results are hard to come by.

 

A strategy of patience

Sports administrators and coaches should copy a strategy of patience from legendary basketball coach in the 1960s and 1970s, John Wooden - one person who knew about patience and who knew how to teach it to his players.

In his landmark book ‘They Call Me Coach’, Wooden talked about the value of patience in sports.

“In game play,” he wrote, “it has always been my philosophy that patience will win out. By that, I mean patience to follow our game plan. If we do believe in it, we will wear the opposition down and will get to them. If we break away from our style, however, and play their style, we’re in trouble.”

Wooden, a Christian gentleman goes on to say, “Patience in life is even more vital than it is in hoops. Follow the strategy of patience… It is a strategy that will not just keep us from beating ourselves; it will lead to victory!”

To assemble formidable sports teams, key stakeholders in sports must not lose hope and they must never give up efforts of supporting teams.

This is so because in sports; patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination of success.

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