Tonight I had the pleasure of listening to Tennis Coach Silviu Tanasoiu talk about the privilege of being a student athlete, the responsibility of participating in a varsity sport, the adversity, how adversity should be your best friend, and the relationships that form.

Coach Tanasoiu tries to remind to players often that they are in a position of privilege. They are fulfilling a spot of only 48 players in the entire world that competes in the Ivy League. He also recognizes the challenges of balancing academics and athletics.

Student athletes face the same difficulties that everyday students face, such as taking challenging classes, balancing workloads, and meeting deadlines, all while adding another daily responsibility to their schedule. Not only are varsity sports time consuming, they are physically demanding. An athlete goes the extra mile by committing to their team and representing their school.

He spoke about how the adversity that varsity athletes face should not be avoided but should be embraced. Through adversity you have a chance to explore how far you can go.

A statement that resonated with me was, “Don’t be too hard on yourself when facing adversity.” Coach Tanasoiu advises to not get caught up in the outcomes, but instead focus on the details that you have control of.

When you are focused on the outcome and you attach your worth to the outcome, you will find yourself very resistant to trying new things and putting forth your best effort. When you define your worth by your performance rather than your effort, you stop yourself dead at the starting gate.

When your sense of worth is attached to the effort you make and putting forth your very best, then the process itself becomes exciting and rewarding, regardless of the outcome. In fact, people who define themselves through effort rather than outcomes do not think much about the outcome. While they have goals, and they certainly want to achieve their goals, they are not focused in the future on the goal. Instead, they are in the present moment, putting forth full effort in their desire to be all they can be.

Listening to Coach Tanasoiu speak about his passion of excellence, tennis, and development of his players was an honor and his advice was pertinent to life on and off the court.