If I were to ask an athlete what their focus was before a game the common answer is likely to be to come out on top and get the Win, that’s the standard view across sport, and that’s totally fine. But does this universal view work for every team and the challenging circumstances they may encounter? I don’t think so. If we think about it, winning a game requires the input of an opposition, so your goal can be influenced by someone else, something external to you and your team. If your team has encountered adversity, that will also have some scope for influence. In these instances you only have so much control over getting that win.
But if we choose to focus on things like our communication, our focus, our hard work, our energy and intensity, our commitment, offering support to our teammates, being the best version of ourselves, we then decide to focus solely on things that are within our control. These are things that we actually have an influence over. When we focus on such elements, we make the decision that what we deem to be success is influenced only by ourselves, that it has zero influence from anyone externally. So when we focus on these elements we throw away the one size fits all approach of “we must win,” and we then strive to be successful on our own terms. And, if we choose to focus on these things and aim to be the best version of ourselves the W might follow soon after, as a bonus.
For Ireland U16 women we encountered a bit of adversity throughout 2020-2021. A programme that would traditionally be 6 months was actually 4 sessions with the final 12 players, we didn’t have club basketball for the previous 18 months, our players had only been playing outdoors and that was largely done by themselves, and we were competing against teams that had played continuously throughout the previous year. Also, our head coach couldn’t travel either. There was a lot going against us. But we decided to not hang up on these things, to not make excuses but to focus on what we could control. We knew we wouldn’t be the best, but we could be the best version of ourselves.
So in creating the flag the players, not management, decided what our goals and expectations for the programme and for our European Challengers were. The girls took control of what they wanted to achieve, what sort of international basketball players they wanted to be. We read that it is such an honour and privilege to wear the green jersey, but what does it actually mean for these girls who are going to wear it for the first time? It was important for them to decide for themselves, and not to recite what previous international athletes have said, to take ownership of that jersey, to make it their own.
Using the flag was a way for us to lay out what we as team Ireland were all about, putting our stamp on what it is to be an Irish athlete. It was also prominently placed on a wall at training as a constant reminder of who we are, or in some cases who we wanted to be. So, when we got tired and the head started to drop the flag was there with one such reminder of “never give up,” and when the players wrote that themselves, it’s hard to argue with your own writing.
We were also aware of comments made on social media about our compatriots on the U20 team, and also conscious of such comments being made about us and our performance. But setting out our goals allowed us to divert our attention internally, focusing solely on what we wanted to achieve rather than looking externally at what people outside of our group expected or wanted from us. That way if comments were made about us, what did it matter when we had our own focus, and we were working on it?
The entire team also signed their initials around the outside, in a sense to further solidify who we are. It showed that we are one big collective, all in it together, all striving for the same thing. And although the players decided on the goals, management signed it too, showing their commitment. This was added to when Coach McDermott chose three points from the flag; focus, energy and communication, and stressed their importance in every team talk at the Euros. Although these were decided upon by the girls, they were fully embodied by the entire team.
The aim was to give control to the girls, as during the pandemic a lot was taken away from them. It also gave a healthier internal focus, not relying on the performance of others to dictate how successful or unsuccessful we were, it allowed them to decide what was important to them and worth focusing on. It gave them the opportunity to take ownership of what it meant to be an international athlete, rather than following what had gone before them, they put their own stamp on it. And now that the programme is over it is a tangible reminder of the hard work and commitment that the girls put in despite the adversity they faced.
A big thanks to Siubhean Crowe Ireland U16 Team Manager for this piece. Siubhean holds a MSC in Performance and Exercise Psychology from the University of Ulster.
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