What a week in Australian Sport
January 2022
What a week we have had in Australian Sport with some amazing athletic achievements achieved! Whether it be the Australian Open, the Ashes with the test match ending in a draw in the final over, the Santos Festival of Cycling, or the AFLW matches.
We have certainly been spoilt for choice. For us at Strive Sport it is hard to go past the amazing achievements over the past two weeks of our Australian tennis superstars in Ash Barty, Dylan Alcott (AO), Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis and we have to make a special mention of Rafael Nadal winning his 21st Grand Slam!
Australian Sporting Royalty Cathy Freeman, Ash Barty, and Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Following on from last week's post about the values we want our young athletes to aspire to have. We couldn't have asked for a better week of sporting competition to highlight that to us. With this quote from Dylan Alcott sums it up nicely, "It would have been nice to win, to be honest. I'm still the luckiest guy I've ever met. I'm the luckiest guy in the country, if not the luckiest person in this world to live the life that I live."
For Dylan to have this perspective on life has taken a lot of work with his Performance Mind Coach Ben Crowe. Ben also works with Ash Barty, and Richmond Football Club Captain Trent Cotchin among others. Ben works with his clients to ensure they understand what their values are and what their purpose is in life before they can achieve success in their chosen field. Ben encourages those he works with to work out who you are then you can work out what you want. Ben sees being vulnerable as a strength rather than a weakness. Being vulnerable and being prepared to put yourself out there will enable better connections with the people around. As part of this process, we have to be kinder and gentler to ourselves and remind ourselves that we are enough and we don't need to keep seeking or being something more than what we already are.
In Ash Barty's interviews she always refers to having fun and focusing on what she can control. The intrinsic motivation for Ash is far more powerful a motivator than the extrinsic motivators. Ash focuses on being the best human being that she can be, by embodying her identified values both on and off the court. This is the key to Ash's success rather than being concerned with what others think of her or the external pressure that was bearing down on her in Saturday night's match as record tv ratings watched her win the Australian Open 2022. She believes in focusing on the processes she has created for herself and that she solves problems as needed with the support of her incredible team.
Whilst we might only see one player out on the court, Ash never refers to herself with the pronoun I or me. It's always my team or we and what we have been able to achieve!
We have had a remarkable two weeks in Australian Sport with being able to watch the Australian Grand Slam and some amazing tennis performances. Dylan Alcott being crowned Australian of the Year for his hard work and passion. Dylan has identified a clear purpose with wanting to give a voice and show people with disabilities that they can do anything. Dylan wants to be a leader in this space. It is going to be amazing to have such a remarkable human being as our Australian of the Year for the next 12 months and what he can achieve.
Dylan Alcott as Australian of the Year 2022
With the Australian Open finishing with a five-set thriller between Nadal and Medvedev it was quite a fitting way to see out the Australian Open for 2022. It was wonderful to see Nadal become the first man to achieve the remarkable achievement of 21 Grand Slam titles. For Nadal to be able to do it with the limited preparation that he had coming into the tournament at the age of 35 is all the more remarkable. In Nadal's post-match interview, he wanted to keep believing that he would be able to find a solution. To have achieved so many Grand Slam titles but from his own perspective he has worked very hard for these wins, feels honoured and isn't chasing the records of most Grand Slam wins just wants to be enjoying the moment of his win.
Rafael Nadal of Spain holds the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after winning the men’s singles final against Daniil Medvedev of Russia on Day 14 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Saturday, January 29, 2022. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Congratulations to all involved in the wonderful tournament that was the Australian Open for 2022. It was tournament for all Australians to remember.
Strive Sport looking forward to what the next exciting instalment is in store on the Sporting Calendar for our Australian Sport Stars. We have the Beijing Winter Olympics coming up starting this Friday along with the one-day series for the Australian Women's Cricket team against the English Women, this starts on Thursday.
Keep an eye on the "Supporting your Sports Club" blog for the next instalment of how our Australian Sports Stars are going!
