BRIDGES: Doing the little things to be successful

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
— Vince Lombardi

In sports, you often hear about the need to do the little things right.

Locally, we’ve been seeing plenty of examples of this lately. On the baseball field, Winder-Barrow High School coach Brian Smith speaks of doing the little things to be successful.

“We always try to focus on the day at hand,” Smith said recently. “You can’t worry about two weeks from now or a month from now. We try our best to concentrate on what we need to accomplish that day in practice or in a game.”

Competing in arguably the toughest baseball region in the state, Smith’s players are showing what happens when you look at the picture in front of you instead of trying to look at the one a mile away.

Bethlehem Christian Academy baseball coach Nick Pou is a big believer in doing the “little things” correctly. Even when his team tied the defending Class AAA state champions in the season opener, Pou immediately knew there were aspects of his team’s play that could have been better.

“If we don’t make this error or if we take advantage of the opportunities we had, then we win this game,” Pou told his players after that battle with Tattnall Square.

Even when his team was on its way to recording back-to-back one-sided victories, Pou said it was important not to lose focus during a contest.

“The umpires will tell us when to quit playing,” Pou said. “We need to keep doing what we need to do in order to be successful. You don’t ever want to lose focus on the task, or game, at hand.”

Over at Apalachee High School, winning state championships in the weight room is something many fans, even die-hard ones, often don’t take notice of. However, you can be assured success in the weight room is something Wildcat head coach Shane Davis stresses.

“Competing in the competition helps our athletes stay focused,” Davis said. “Really, since we’ve been here, our players have known the amount of work it takes to be successful and have always done the things they need to do — no matter how small — to be successful. It’s not always easy being dedicated in the weight room when the season is still months away. However, it is one of those things which successful programs find a way to do.”

A sixth state title in eight years by the AHS Iron Cats, shows just how much drive they have to succeed. It’s all about doing the little things right.

When our local teams enjoy success in their respective sport, often times it can be traced back to doing even the smallest details in the correct way.

Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. Send comments about this column to cbridges@barrowjournal.com.