March Madness-Bring it Home

The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament continues, and the March Madness has truly been mad for some and exciting for others. I read today that there are over 52 million viewers of March madness, so how can we bring this madness home? Very easy!

Sports are a celebration of being human. They symbolize and encapsulate competition and co-operation, tenacity, skill, mental toughness, physical excellence and sportsmanship. They are a celebration of who we think we are, what we prize most highly, and how we can strive for more. For thousands of years, sport has been a crucial part of most good education systems, for good reason. Whether sport is played as an individual or as a team, it has important  life lessons to teach us which carry over into the rest of life, and which apply to business, politics, teamwork, leadership and our family life.

Sport teaches both mental and physical agility. Sport teaches us to time our run and to tolerate and overcome physical pain and limitations. Sport is about thinking and strategizing, and its about mental toughness and resilience.

Ultimately, sport is more about the mental challenge than the physical one, ask any of my teammates from my tennis team and you will get an amen from this one!

Sport teaches us sportsmanship, which is essentially how to handle ourselves with grace, dignity and humility in victory and defeat, I always stay seated and watch how the players interact with one another when the game is finished, that's when you see true sportsmanship, grace and honor, be sure to point this out to your kids as well.

We are almost into little league season so this reminder goes to all parents who play an important role in the stands of a little league field, whether we are participants or spectators, to be good sports there can be no complaint, tantrums, weakness or bad grace, and the only tears we are allowed to shed are tears of joy.

In work and the rest of life, sport reminds us to do better, last longer, be stronger and aim higher. And strive, individually and in teams.

Let's Play Ball!