DemminBlog

Conor Casey scored two goals in the the second half, Landon Donovan scored the winner as the United States clinched its sixth straight World Cup berth with a game to spare by coming from behind to beat Honduras 3-2 on Saturday.

Mexico also qualified for World Cup 2010 with a 4-1 victory over El Salvador.

Hannibal Najjar

A True Champion

 What is your child made of? Consider the Following!

 A True Champion is one that gets up when lame
A True Champion is one that shares the fame
A True Champion is that one that always takes the blame (Hannibal Najjar-Sept, 1994)

Getting up When Lame
Getting up when lame conveys an attitude of determination and grit. It goes even beyond just    being able to endure pain! It speaks to an attitude of complete and comprehensive preparation, keenness to perform, and a desire to finish the task at hand with resolve and excellence.

 Getting up when lame represents a special kind of focus that Lance Armstrong speaks of Hearing and seeing only that which furthers the mission. Therefore, the focus is on accomplishment and not lameness which can be found in the realms of the physical, emotional, psychological, and, mental.

 Using the encouragement of Carthaginian General, Hannibal Barca, who motivated his troops of men and elephants across the frigid and “impossible” Alps into Italy and Rome we would do well to take heed of his exhortation - “If you cannot find a way, make one!” By this, one gets a truer picture of what it takes to never consider lameness as an excuse or option.

 I also encourage you to take a careful look at the following - “No amount of bleeding would ever have me reeling”(hn-Oct, 2002. This epitomizes it all!

 Sharing the Fame
Sharing the fame, is another component that all champions are made of. John Wooden, one of my surviving mentors and all time UCLA and basketball icon and player-and-coach Hall-of-Fame inductee, encourages that, “The main ingredient in stardom is the rest of the team” – what a depiction that helps us understand the concept of, sharing the fame!

 Look around at any past greats and the humble of today, and witness their confessions as to what were and are, the most important things that made them icons and lifted-up persons in their respective arts! Hard work, preparation, determination, and suchlike aside, almost every single “Great”, attributes teammates’ contributions, their role-playing and sacrifices to the team, as the main ingredient that led to the “Greats” personal rise to stardom.

 Always Taking the Blame
Hardly ever, and I would dare say, NEVER, can you or will you find a star that is without the resolve that the puck stops with them! Too often we lay blame on the play that immediately preceded that “unfortunate” occurrence or incident, or the person that performed the act that led to the collapse or failure to achieve the desired goal or outcome.

 A true champion does not look for excuses or to other people to cast blame. They take ownership of the situation and “failure” to achieve the desired outcome. They hurt deeply and rehearse and visualize ways to employ an attitude and tactics so that their next performance would prevent another undesired outcome and also, yield the sought-after result.

 Many people often use the cliché, “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem”. Again, I tend to take it a step further, and a BIG one at that by imploring people to take ownership of their lives and responsibilities – I choose to advise that, if you are not part of the solution, you ARE the problem! Experience shows that this approach encourages people to be more intentional in their decision-making,  precise in their actions, and dedicated to the cause.

 I sum up the True Champions life and way of living, by encouraging all to use the following, “If you aren’t winning, don’t be whining”, (hn-Sept, 2005), and follow the Nike slogan, “Just do it”; take care of your business (TCYB)! The ultimate depiction of taking the blame is when passing the baton to a fumbling receiver that, you adjudge it could have been passed with greater timeliness and precision!

 Written by Hannibal Najjar

Rachel Givan

My name is Rachel Givan and I play for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I am a junior and play left defense for the tar heels. I am going to try and blog about our games this season.

We are in the middle of our season right now with a record of 10-1-1. We are in to our ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) games and play usually on Thursday and Sunday. This past Thursday, October 1st we played Boston College in Boston. The weather was 48 degrees, pretty chilly.

We played in front of a large crowd. We also played on turf and won 2-1 in a rough match. We scored off two penalty kicks because of a handball and foul in the 18 yard box.

We flew out Friday morning and had the day off. We practiced Saturday morning and left that afternoon on a bus for VirginiaTech. We were not as successful against Virginia. We lost 1-0 in a rough battle with lots of fouls.

This lost was very difficult for us because it was our first of the season. However, we have learned a lot from this game.  Our coaches were not too happy. We have a lot to work on in practice to get ready for our game against North Carolina State on Friday October 9th, at home.

Written by Rachel Givan.

Rachel Givan

She was a goal scoring machine throughout her select and high school years. As a forward she was simply unstopable. Who would have guessed that Rachel Givan would be one of the top defenders in NCAA women’s soccer. I spoke with Rachel a couple days ago and she is having a wonderful season.

Read some of my questions and answers with Rachel.

 Ddemmin: What was some of the training you did this past summer to get ready for your season?
Rachel Givan:We get a packet every summer by our coaches that consist of running fitness, technical stuff, weights, and suggestions for games. I focus on fitness every summer. I have to pass a 120′s test that is mentally and physically difficult. I also focused on 1v1′s and small sided games. I trained this summer with Mallory Coleman a senior on the Ole Miss soccer team, and Courtney Alexander a senior on Miami soccer team.

Ddemmin: How was preseason training?
Rachel Givan: Preseason was good this year. Our coaches thought that our team came into preseason extremely fit.  The freshman class came ready to compete and their fitness level was very good. It helps being a junior, it brings experience and confidence with all the  preseason test and games. This preseason was longer than usual, we spent one week in Chapel  Hill and another week in Ocean Isle North Carolina, at the beach. It was not all fun at the beach, we did a lot of hard work too.

Ddemmin: How is your season going so far?
Rachel Givan:Our season is going great so far!  We have played some difficult teams and have really connected. Our record is 10-0-1.

Ddemmin: How you felt after winning your first NCAA women’s soccer championship?
Rachel Givan: It was AMAZING! The day is a blur in my memory, but it is such a great accomplishment and I am very blessed to have experienced it and play with my awesome teammates. Our team would do anything for each other.

Ddemmin: You have played forward throughout your high school years. Was it difficult to switch to a left back position?
Rachel Givan:Yes, luckily I got to make the transition my Freshman spring season so we could afford to make some mistakes in the back. It was difficult also playing on the left becasue I AM NOT LEFT FOOTED. But, I now feel very confident in the back and my left foot has improved a lot. It was challenging but it has been a great experience.

Ddemmin: If your coach gave you the choice of choosing a position to play, what position would you choose?
Rachel Givan:Right now I am really enjoying playing defense, because all the players on my team are incredible and just to get on the field is an accomplishment for me. I miss getting to shoot though!

Ddemmin: What advice would you give to young soccer players that want to follow in your footstep?
Rachel Givan:I would just say work hard, but have fun while your doing it. And just take aditional time from team practaice and focus on your strengths and weaknesses and try to improve them. If you really want to succeed just work hard and keep your head up.

Ddemmin:I have a question from Cheyne Bush, One of the u-12 Brilla girls that you met this summer. The one that fell in love with your championship ring and didn’t want to give it back. She wants to know how many times you can juggle the ball?
Rachel Givan: I wish I had practiced juggling a lot when I was her age. I did practice a lot over the summer with Mallory and Courtney. I can juggle over a hundred.

Ddemmin: Good luck with the rest of your season and we will talk soon.
Rachel Givan: Thanks!

To read more about Rachel click here http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/givan_rachel00.html