Happy 99th Birthday to John Wooden

John Wooden - Pyramid of Success

His record and accomplishments would stand by themselves in listing Coach Wooden at the top of the list of the greatest coaches of all-time. However, his approach to developing the athlete as a person as well as a player, IMO puts Wooden over the top.

Coach John Wooden: Pursuing Victory With Honor and the Teacher-Coach You Tube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvX0fkEp0cs

Pursuing Victory With Honor gives coaches and athletic administrators the tools they need to foster good character and positive sportsmanship in their young athletes. PVWH recognizes the unique learning opportunity that athletics has in shaping the character of today's student-athletes while still encouraging the competitive pursuit of victory.

John Wooden's Seven Point Creed

John Robert Wooden (born October 14, 1910, in Martinsville, Indiana) is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player (Class of 1961) and a coach (Class of 1973). He was the first person ever enshrined in both categories.

John Wooden's Seven Point Creed, given to him by his father Joshua upon his graduation from grammar school:

Be true to yourself.
Make each day your masterpiece.
Help others.
Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
Make friendship a fine art.
Build a shelter against a rainy day.
Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

From CharacterCounts.org

The Five Principles of Winning Honorably

Sports best achieves its positive impact on participants and society when everyone plays to win. Winning is important, and trying to win is essential. But so too is how you win. Below are five principles that all sports programs should follow:

1. Winning is important, but honor is more important. Quality sports programs should not trivialize or demonize the desire to win. It’s disrespectful to athletes and coaches to say, “It’s only a game.” The greatest value of sports is its ability to enhance the character and uplift the ethics of participants and spectators.

2. Ethics is essential to true winning.The best strategy is not to de-emphasize winning but to more vigorously emphasize ethical standards and sportsmanship in the honorable pursuit of victory. That’s winning in its truest sense.

3. There’s no true victory without honor. Cheating and bad sportsmanship rob victories of their value.

4. Ethics and sportsmanship are ground rules. Sports programs must never be subordinated to the desire to win. It’s never proper to act unethically to succeed.

5. Benefits of sports come from the competition, not the outcome. The vital lessons and great value of sports are learned from the honorable pursuit of victory, not from victories, titles, or win-loss records.