I Believe That We Will Win

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By the time most of you will read this, the United States Men’s Soccer team will be playing or will have already played their next soccer game vs. Belgium in the 2014 World Cup.  The World Cup has been going on in Brazil for the last 3 weeks and the US team has captured the attention of most Americans.  Many across this great land have rallied behind this team whether they were a die hard soccer fan or they don’t know a thing about soccer.  It has been a fun few weeks cheering the Americans on against the world.

Recently I was named assistant Athletic Director by our school board.  I am very excited about the challenge.  I am a huge sports fan and a die hard Upson Lee Knight.  I am a former Knight athlete and have been coaching soccer, football, and basketball at UL for the last 15 years.  I feel that it is an honor to play, coach and now help build our school as assistant AD.  While watching the US soccer team this summer I can’t help to get excited about our upcoming athletic season.  As I follow the US team, I have heard many different quotes and mottos over and over.  While these get me excited about the US team, it gets me even more exctited about Upson Lee athletics!

The first motto that I’m sure you have heard over and over is “I believe that we will win”.  It has been pasted all over ESPN.  There have been t-shirts made with the motto on it.  Any time you get on Facebook, Twitter, or any social media this summer, you will see it at least 3 or 4 times a day. Youtube videos have fans chanting it from the likes of Will Ferrel to MLB, NBA and NFL stars. It is a great motto!  It is very American!  It potrays our fighting spirit.  As a US History teacher at the high school, I can tell you that throughout the history of this great nation, I can’t name a single time that we as American’s haven’t “believed that we can win!”  While thinking about this motto the last few weeks, it keeps popping up in my mind that we should adopt it at UL.  We have an outstanding coaching staff put in place this year.  All of our coaches have been working very hard this summer both in the weight room and their field of play.  Our coaches and athletes have been putting in many hours this summer not only in our Fall sports, which are right around the corner, but also our Winter and Spring sports for the 2014-2015 season.  We have very passionate coaches and athletes who I believe will represent UL well this year.  I believe that we will have success on the fields and courts that we will play on. I think that as coaches and players we should have the belief and confidence that no matter the opponent, no matter the circumstances, we are going to walk into our game or match and give everything we have.  I think most importantly we need to walk out with the motto that “I believe that we will win!!!!”

Another motto that the United States team has been using this year is “One Nation, One Team”.  The more I think about it, the more I think that we should adopt this for our school as well.  Of course we can not get the entire Nation to cheer for us, but I do believe we can use “One County, One Team”.  Upson County has a very, very strong sports history.  Being the sports nut that I am, I love studying about the boy’s basketball teams from Yatesville High, the great football teams from R.E. Lee, the girl’s basketball teams from Upson High and so on and so on.  I think that we should be very proud of what we have accomplished as a community.  I am excited about this upcoming sports season.  My hope is that we can take the pride we have in our sports history and use that passion to support Upson Lee.  I would love for us to pack the football stadium under the Friday Night lights this fall.  I would love for us to pack our gym for our basketball games and volleyball games.  I would love for Silvertown to be full in the spring and for 1000s of Matthew’s Maniacs to be cheering our soccer teams on as well.  How much fun would it be if our community would get behind our all our athletes and coaches and help turn our athletic program into one of the best in the state?  It can be done!  Let’s all become one family, one community, ONE COUNTY, ONE TEAM!  We are all Upson Lee Knights!

Even if you do not like soccer or do not understand it, I hope you are following the boys this summer in Brazil.  They represent us.  They play with a passion and a grit that potrays America.  They are a team that is not scared of anyone, they give everything they have and they leave it all on the field.  They play with broken noses, they play through cramps from the humidity of the Amazon rainforest.  They play with honor and they play with pride for this great nation.  As assistant athletic director and as an Upson Lee coach, my hope is that our players, coaches and fans are watching and will grasp a hold to the things this soccer team is showing us.  I hope that we can play the same way, preparing ourselves the best we can and then leaving it all on the field or court.  I’m excited to see Upson County unite as “One County and One team” and once we do that “I Believe that we will win!”