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Perseverance

Perseverance (noun): The continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.

It’s not so important who starts the game but who finishes it. -UCLA Coach John Wooden

If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down seventy times and get up off the floor saying. “Here comes number seventy-one!” -Founder of Amway Corporation Richard M. Devos

When I started interviewing pro athletes, I already knew they had to spend a lot of time practicing to be good at their sport or game. I knew that sometimes they had setbacks and had to keep trying in order to succeed. I also knew that athletes had injuries, and often had to work hard to recover, get strong again, and get back in the game.

Following through, sticking to the job, and finishing what you start are ways people talk about perseverance. After I interviewed the athletes, I learned that perseverance counts on the field and off. Sometimes things happen off the field that can affect your game. Sometimes it’s the other way around. I learned that being an athlete can help other aspects of life too, like getting better grades or getting along with your friends and family.

Here are the athletes and their messages for kids about perseverance:

Cole Hamels (MLB)

Cole Hamels (credit - Dawn Shields)

Cole Hamels was born in December, 1983 in San Diego, California. He is one of Major League Baseball’s top pitchers and is part of the starting lineup for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cole has played baseball since he was four years old, and showed his talent in Little League. When he was in high school at Rancho Bernardo High School near San Diego, his 94 MPH fastball caught the eye of many MLB scouts. Cole’s baseball future looked bright, but when he was sixteen, he broke his arm, and scouts lost interest.

Cole fought back from the injury and when he graduated from high school in 2002 was picked in the first round of the MLB draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. Cole received the Paul Owens Award as the best minor league pitcher for the Phillies in 2003, but in 2004 and 2005, Cole again suffered several injuries and missed a lot of baseball. In 2006, Cole returned to minor league baseball healthy and strong, and was called up to the majors in May, 2006. By the next year, Cole was named to the NL All Star team, finishing the season with a 15-5 record. The next year, 2008, was a great year for Cole and the Phillies. The Phillies won the NLCS and the World Series. Cole was not only named MVP for both post-season series, he also led the Phillies’ World Series Victory parade. Cole returned to the World Series the next year and continues to stand out in the Phillies pitching lineup. Cole is married, and has two children with his wife Heidi. In addition to his MLB career, Heidi and Cole have their own foundation that raises money to support children’s education around the world in order to fight poverty. They have supported schools in Philadelphia, and provide funding for an entire school for 2,700 children in Malawi, Africa.

Cole’s advice for kids about perseverance:

“I broke my arm throwing a baseball when I was 16 and the doctor said I had a 1% chance of ever pitching again. I healed, got stronger and I achieved my goal of pitching in the major leagues. My message about perseverance is in order to succeed, you must learn from your failures and keep doing your best. Never give up on the game, and enjoy every moment you get playing baseball or any other sport.”