Stepping Out

How many times have you heard it from your coaches? "Push; if you're not uncomfortable, you're not doing it right!" That is pretty great training advice, but as we all know, we learn things from our sports that help us beyond the competition area. Stepping outside of your "normal" and trying new things can be strange at first, but it definitely pays off. Many of us are settled into the school "groove" at this point. We've established a bit of a routine. Many of us spend a majority of our time with our teammates. We see them at practice, often we live together. There are 18 Varsity sports programs here at SUNY at Buffalo. How many people from other teams have you met? How many names have you learned and remembered? How many games/competitions have you attended? These other teams are just as busy as you are. They are people of the highest quality. Although they may spend their practice time in the pool while you're on the turf, you have more in common that you think. Don't believe me? Go watch them compete. They've got the same grit and drive that you possess. There have been SO many competitions this year already. If you haven't attended a single sporting event yet, you're missing out. There is a crazy useful website http://www.ubbulls.com/landing/index where all the sports teams are listed. There are links to every single schedule for every single team. If you're not going to support the other members of this school who tough it out day in and day out like yourself, you miss seeing awe-inspiring things like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGgC9XS7DAU
How about the unbeaten Women's Soccer team? Have you see those XC runners running on pure guts?
How about UB Volleyball traveling to USF to show them how we do it in NY? (They won by the way).

Or our footballers scoring 22 points in the 4th quarter against Army to nearly take the game?


Yeah, you're team is the coolest and it might seem easier to spend all of your time with them as opposed to being slightly uncomfortable and interacting with new people (scary, right?). In the end, though, you have limited time here. There are so many other people from all over the world on other teams (and, believe it or not, some NARPS can even make great friends) who can make a huge impact on you, if only you give them the chance.  My challenge to you is to use the time between now and the next SAAC meeting (September 24) to befriend an athlete from a different team. Bring them to the next meeting (whether they're a SAAC Rep or not!), come introduce yourselves to me at the beginning of the meeting, and then sit together. MAJOR Bulls Pride points and respect to you for going out of your comfort zone and being part of something bigger.