Under the guidance of head coach Kristi Stefanoni, UMASS Softball continue to prioritize the evolution of their championship culture by highlighting their commitment to excellence. I am delighted to continue supporting their coaching staff and players as they grow.
In last night's session the team were given the opportunity to explore the concept of excellence relative to human performance. Alex Honnald's recent free solo of El Capitan was used as the marker of excellence. The team were challenged to identify all of the many influencers, on and off the field, that contribute towards their individual and collective achievement of excellence. The team prioritized these and then each individual player was asked to establish which of these were easy to do and which they found unbelievably challenging.
Using Angela Duckworth's GRIT concept (the combination of passion and perseverance towards a long term goal, in this context excellence) the players were further challenged to consider how they can counter the areas/ issues ('troublemakers') they find most challenging in order to continue striving for excellence.
Inevitably the session left players with more questions than answers and it has helped them think differently about how they do what they do, so that they might do it differently and even better as the season moves forward.
