IKM/MANNING Cross Country!
Teamwork is the Key to Success

Below are some thoughts I want us all to think about related
to our team and teamwork. Keep these thoughts in mind for the upcoming season.
Each one of you is important to the success of our entire team.
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Teamwork is how we blend the talents and strengths of individuals
into a successful team.
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Great teamwork is the only way to reach your ultimate moments,
to create breakthroughs that fill your life with the sense of lasting significance.
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Every team is a stage setting, a place to act out the drama
of one's life. When runners' teams excel, they all win. Their best efforts,
combined with those of their teammates, grow into something far greater and
far more satisfying than any an individual could have achieved alone. Teams
make the runner a part of something that matters. They are the fountain from
which all rewards will flow.
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Abraham Lincoln once said, "A house divided against
itself cannot stand." This is what happens when people on a team decide
not to trust. Everyone will gear down their efforts until they're doing
just enough to
get by. Their subtle withholding of effort may eventually be enough to
bring about a system wide failure.
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When we develop our team goals there are only two options
you have as an athlete related to the team goals. You are either in or
you are
out. There is no such thing as in-between. Being committed to the team
goal is key. You must be prepared. Preparation demands mental and physical
conditioning
and conscious planning. A runner who is just ready and not totally prepared
simply is a liability to the team.
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As an athlete on our team you must give 110% all the time.
Even on those days it is difficult for one reason or another. If you dog
it, you are not just hurting yourself, you are hurting the team.
"Ask not what your teammates can do for you," said Magic Johnson.
"Ask what you can do for your teammates."
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Much of the information on this page was taken from the following
book: Coaching Cross Country Successfully, Forward by Sam Bell. Written
by Joe Newton with Joe Henderson. I would highly suggest that any cross country
coach read this book.