Seattle Prep Football

Team Philosophy

Guiding Theme:

Seattle Prep Football is about Strength and Pride.

Strength:

 Be Tough

Practice Humble Leadership

Win the Day

 

Pride:

Be a man of character

Don’t ever give up- don’t ever give in

Live in this moment

Strength: Physical strength can only be achieved when matched with mental fortitude

Be Tough-

 A standard definition of tough is a player that defies or overcomes odds. Perhaps it is an injury that is battled through or mental adversity. While those are traits we seek in our program the bigger issue is the intent behind it. At Seattle Prep we define Toughness as the act to push yourself through adversity not for yourself but for the success of your peers, your team and your community. “ Being Tough,” means sacrifice for others to achieve personal success.

Practice Humble Leadership-

 A key tenant of this program is “Humble Leadership”. While there are some similarities to “being tough” in humble leadership, this concepts reaches into how we handle ourselves as men in life. The two words do not seem to fit together. Humble seems to conjure images of quiet and reserved, quickly to pass credit perhaps even lacking fire, leadership speaks to the contrary. Our notion is leaders are often loud and boisterous, pushing some and pulling others to success. The power of the two together is an awesome concept. How can you lead with humility? Being a faith-based school we have the advantage of using the teachings of the bible to illustrate a point and I have yet to see a more powerful illustration then the one that we use to define “humble leadership”. On the night before his death Christ sat at a final meal with his closest friends knowing what the following day held for him. After a meal together he gathered his disciples and washed each ones feet. For a man that was revered and held in such high esteem to wash the feet of those he led was an incredible act of humility. At no point did it diminish his position of leadership but rather drove home that no one person is greater then that of the cause. That true leadership is to serve one another. Another phrase that resonates with me:

 

“ I start with the premise that my job is to create more leaders not more follows”

 

Win The Day-

 Winning the day speaks to our sense of competition. Our sport, like life, is very competitive. We all want to contribute at a high level and feel that pride of accomplishment but there are only so many spots on the field. The staff will work hard to reward effort and give value to every player but as a person we all need to compete to be our very best in all we do. If we win the drill, the play, the practice, we will win the day. If we push ourselves in the weight room, in the classroom in all we do, we win at life. We know that others may be more naturally talented or more academically gifted but we control our effort. No one can determine how hard we try or how much we care about our success. That is being competitive and that is the one common trait all champions have.

 

Pride:

Be a man of character

 “ Your character is who you are when no one else is watching”

Who are we when no one is there to push us? What kind of effort do we give when there is no ramification for our actions? At the end of the day we are who we are and we make those decisions that add up in a hundred ways throughout a day. When we treat people with respect, add a little weight or an extra rep to our workouts, turn off the Xbox to study one more chapter these moments add up. I wont define what character is because I believe it is incredibly personal but I insist our student athletes realize what their actions say about them. I don’t give guilt trips when an athlete makes a decision that may not be productive to them as a player or hurts the team. Instead I chose to point out the consequences and how it reflects on their character. From that point the athlete will make the call. Either way, recognize how it affects the world around you and if that is who you want to be. We are not here to define the character of our players but to discover it and guide them to be their best.

Don’t ever give up- don’t ever give in

 I say it every year to every team I have ever coached, “ Don’t be afraid to lose but don’t you ever be defeated”. We don’t care about the scoreboard. It takes care of itself; we care about your resolve. Have a fire! Have pride! Fight for every inch and don’t you ever give up. When you give up on the field, in practice or in the classroom your giving in. Your opponent may be across the field from you or it may be your own fear, it doesn’t matter. When you give up in anything you have given up on yourself. Seattle Prep may win or lose but it is my ultimate goal that we never give up. I cannot stomach it. Don’t let anybody take something from you without a fight.

Live in the moment

 What just happened is over. It cannot be undone. What is to be is unknown and outside of our control. But now, we control now. The struggle is now. The work is now. The game is this play, this practice, and this moment. When we have the pride to let go what is gone and trust in what will be we can focus all our energy on the moment. When we do that we control our destiny.

• Expectations

• Ø  Do the right thing
• Ø  Show up on team time ( ready to work) to all functions
• Ø  Treat each other, coaches and equipment with respect
• Ø  Practice humble leadership
• Ø  Communicate all absences directly to Coach Cook via email, text or call
• Ø  Take care of the upkeep of the field, locker room and meeting spaces
• Ø  Represent our school in a positive fashion at all times
• Ø  Excel in effort in the classroom and on the field
• Ø  Never say the words “ I can’t”
• Ø  Dream bigger
• Ø  Accept losing but never be defeated
• Ø  Have fun
•  

• Ramifications for our actions

• Ø  An excused absence is a sickness or dire personal situation as decided by the coaching staff. Any unexcused absences will be a loss of a quarter for the next game.
• Ø  A tardiness, communicated or not will be handled by a wheel of fortune. If wheels are not completed by game time, player may not play.
• Ø  Any disrespectful action during the season is grounds for peer review. Senior leaders and coaches may suggest discipline procedures up to dismissal for any action that represents the team in a negative light.
• Ø  Off-season work is owed to the team by the start of the season. If you have not been able or chosen to not participate in off season activities you will need to make up the conditioning to the team.
• Ø  If you signed up for off-season activities including the weight program but did not complete the program an opportunity to make up the missed time will be given by the senior council at pre-season camp.
• Coaches reserve the right to be compassionate