Brewer: Platforms – A letter to athletes

.....Climb the stairs because of your heart. It’s okay to stumble when you’re tired. It’s okay to make mistakes. Don’t stand at the bottom waiting for someone to hand you a rulebook called “How to Climb the Stairs Without Getting Tired.” Even for athletes, that book doesn’t exist. Even at peak performance, we all know that stairs leave us winded.

Learning is not graceful — it is nuanced and founded on how we respond to our missteps. The silver lining is that our minds are malleable. Now, we have to do a much better job at verbalizing it. Each of us, All-American or not, has a role. This is your platform.....

.....How deeply you care also diffuses into your ability to give constructive criticism, challenge another’s limits and open your heart to what is best for a given team. Your voice is what is best — it pumps the lifeblood through the heart of transformation. Hold each other accountable to use it.

Be selfless, assertive, curious, competitive and consistent because you envision potential in this perennial, demanding season. Study, train, fight and thrive in the ambiguity and unpredictability of the world, as you do in competition. Call out injustice as loudly and as passionately as you do a ball screen.....

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Bethany`s Notes: A great read for everyone by a former women`s basketball player at Stanford.