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Father Bray’s Formula for
Success
Father Kenneth A. Bray inspired
many young men throughout his career as coach
and director of athletics at Iolani School. Through
his innovative coaching techniques, Bray was able
to instill a number of important elements of success
to everyone he coached. Bray taught his players
respect and discipline and stressed the importance
of conditioning, preparation, and courage. All
of these principles will have a great deal of
relevance to me in my upcoming soccer season and
in the years to come because they are key factors
in attaining success. I am entering my fourth
and final year with the varsity soccer team, and
I am hoping it will be the best season yet. In
order to achieve this goal, however, my teammates
and I must grasp the concepts that brought Father
Bray’s teams success throughout his years
at Iolani. Even though the ideas seem basic and
general, I realized through reading the history
of Father Bray that these simple ideas can create
a sense of accomplishment and success regardless
of numbers and statistics.
As I enter into my senior season
as a member of the varsity soccer team, I recall
the past three years that I spent as an underclassman
on the team. I did not comprehend how important
and meaningful the final season is to a senior
until the realization hit me that this was my
last chance. I was never truly able to grasp the
idea that after this season, there would be no
next year. With this new understanding, I have
taken a different outlook towards the season,
one that allows me to play without any hesitation
and finish my final year without any regrets.
The principles of Father Bray’s coaching
style easily fit into my goals for this soccer
season, and I will do my best to apply them to
my work ethic and mindset, and I hope that I will
be able to share the same ideas with my teammates.
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The principles of respect, humility,
and discipline are essential in finding success
in any endeavor. Though the ideas may seem fundamental
and simple, they are often overlooked and forgotten.
Father Bray taught his players to show humility
in victory and pride in defeat, which is similar
to our ideology on the soccer team. Success can
not necessarily be measured by statistics and
numbers, rather by the growth and development
throughout a tough season that challenges the
character and heart of a team. Although winning
does not measure the success of a team, it is
always a nice compliment to a successful season,
and I would truly enjoy ending my high school
soccer career on a high note. I hope that practicing
humility and discipline will allow our varsity
soccer team to finish the upcoming season with
our heads held high, knowing that we performed
to the best of our abilities and had no regrets.
It is truly valuable to have
the right attitudes and insights, but a team must
also be able to perform at game time and have
the right attitude on the field. Therefore our
team must also exercise the concepts of fundamentals,
simplicity, conditioning and courage. These ideas
are important to the success of any team because
conditioning gives a team a physical and mental
edge over its competition. Another key idea of
Father Bray’s that will prove to be beneficial
to the success of our team is to play simply and
use the fundamentals of the game. If our team
applies simplicity and tries to stick to basic
plays, we will be able to execute our game plan
and control the tempo of the game, which is a
very important aspect of soccer. Along with the
conditioning and simple outlook on the game, the
team members must be willing to play with courage.
This could be the most important of all aspects
of Father Bray’s principles because it can
enable a team to achieve success regardless of
talent or ability. With Father Bray’s accomplishments
as a precedent, a team can find success both on
and off the playing field by showing some heart,
desire, and courage.
Many of the principles taught
by Father Bray during his coaching career will
have a great deal of relevance in my life. The
ideas that he preached to his team members are
essential components of creating success, such
as being responsible, showing respect, having
discipline, conditioning, practicing fundamentals,
and playing with courage. I hope that the same
elements that brought an abundance of success
to a number of Father Bray’s teams will
be able to bring accomplishments and achievements
to our team.
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