"Gotta Love The Game"

Earlier today, I attended a soccer combine for high school students. 
As the soccer players were going through some opening drills, 
David Janezic, the assistant men's soccer coach at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, kept encouraging his players by stating..."gotta love the game". 

It was great advice.

In working with athletes, I often talk about the "hook".

 It fuels your desire to play and your devotion to the game. 

It directly impacts every facet of your preparation and performance.

 It will set the tone for how you approach your training and conditioning. 

The "hook" is the one thing that will hold you up when you are feeling down or 

when you simply feel like quitting. It is at the core of who you are as a player 

and how you choose to play in practice or a game.

The "hook" is your answer to the question..."why?" or "what hooks you?"

 Why do you love playing? Why is this game important to you? 

Why do you want to learn how to play? 

Without the why, there is no what, where, how or when.