Anson Dorrance Quotes

“ We don't want people to think the way to happiness in sport is to have these careers where they never lose a game and you're the best player in the world,”  “ A lot of what happens in sport challenges your character. And the way you negotiate these difficult environments, in our
opinion, is a measure of who you are. You get to express who you are through the victories and defeats of your game.”
Usually a championship team is built on a strong defense. That's something you can bring to every game. A great attack is always going to be inconsistent - at least on the scoreboard - that's the nature of the game." Anson Dorrance in "The Vision of a Champion. 

Competition is the key to developing players

EXCELLENCE IS ACTUALLY MUNDANE
Excellence is accomplished through deliberate actions, ordinary in themselves, performed consistently and carefully, made into habits, compounded together, added up over time. Since it is mundane, it is within reach of everyone, all the time. Please don't confuse this with success. In competitive athletics success is mutually exclusive...there are winners and losers..one team finishes first and another one last.
So this is your challenge:

• through deliberate actions (the things players do in training)
• ordinary in themselves (everyone is doing them, there are no real secrets).
• performed consistently (done on a regular basis).
• and carefully (with high standards and consummate focus)
• made into habits (coached into your technical, tactical, psychological and physical fabric)
• compounded together (with an understanding of harnessing all the elements)
• added up over time (done when appropriate on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis).

Focus & Discipline

•  Your margin of success is based on your inner drive. 
• This focus and self-discipline is also a great element of your character.

Commitment & Courage

• You can see examples of commitment and courage in athletics every day. We talk about these traits with our UNC players.

• One of the crucial aspects when we play with defensive presence is getting "stuck in," a common British expression for an aggressive player who gets in tackles, or sticks her face in where the ball is going, risking taking a knock or getting whacked. 
• We describe those without this all-out physical courage as humming birds.

Taking Responsibility

• Do you know the kind of player who always finds an excuse when she fails? When something isn't going well, she whines or blames someone else. 
• . When faced with challenges, or problems, look within yourself and decide what you can do to make things better.

The Winning Mentality

• This mentality is a description of the strength of your psychological dimension. 
• It involves your capacity to reach down inside and find your inner hardness. It's what happens when you emerge triumphant from any physical duel or combative situation. The winning mentality is partly optimism, but mostly it's a combination of focus, pride, competitive anger, relentlessness, hardness, fitness and courage -
• This type of mentality is not about your skills or tactics. What it comes down to is intense desire. To get this winning edge, you need to build an indomitable will. This means you must be relentless; you must never give up.

Transcending Ordinary Effort

• Ordinary effort is when you're comfortable. That's mediocrity. A lot of athletes work within their comfort zone, physically and technically. They don't feel like they're going to lose control, or pass out from fatigue. 
• In a game situation, the other team is trying to take you out of your comfort zone. So, as soon as they do, you're in unfamiliar territory. You panic. You make a mistake, or lose the ball.
• The challenge for you as an individual athlete is to find a way to elevate your environment. This is not easy. You likely have to set your own standards of practice performance. You are part of a team sport, in which coaches and your teammates are critical for motivation.