No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own 1 .
I learned this lesson from a(n)2 many years ago. I took the head 3 job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program. It was a tradition for the school's old team to play against the 4 team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn't even practice to 5 the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we were defeated. I couldn't 6 I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to7 that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were8 me. I had to change my 9 about their ability and potential.
I started doing anything I could to help them build a little 10 . Most important, I began to treat them like11 . That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their 12 , we met every day and13 passing and kicking the football.
Six months after suffering our 14 on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to15 . Finally, we faced the number one team in the state. I felt that it would be a 16 for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn't what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest 17 of my life!
From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can 18 the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and 19 them. I helped them to see themselves20 , and they built themselves into winners. Winners are made, not born.
