“Persevere to personally help your teammate.” ~Stonewall Solutions
The Lady Eagles Soccer Team got a kick start to their 15-16 preseason, training with Stonewall Solutions, a company founded by retired Navy SEALS that specializes in training professional and college teams on leadership and team building.
Classroom and Competition
The day was divided into two parts: classroom and competition. The Navy SEAL instructors, who asked not to be named, provided a one-hour keynote covering the Fundamentals of Winning: teamwork, leadership, communication, desire to win vs. hope and failure analyzing.
“We teach the power of team-first mindset with examples from combat preparation and show the value of applying the same concept on the athletic field.We teach the players how to commit. Everyone in athletics wants to win; we’ll cover the consistent differences between those who do and those who don’t.”
Applying the Concepts
After the discussion and lecture, the Lady Eagles took to the field to apply want they had learned.
“We were met with huge tires and logs,” said Lindsey White ’16. “The first 30 seconds we had to army crawl and I could tell everyone was starting to get nervous. We quickly started to understand the true meaning of the whole day, which was teamwork.”
The team was put through competitions amongst each other, to in turn, unite the team as one. Each drill had purpose, based upon three concepts developed by Stonewall Solutions: it pays to be a winner, earn your trident every day, and find an excuse to win. These concepts, applied on the field, helped the team to not focus on the “can’t” but in the “cans”
of winning.
“We have to work hard for each other.”
“Overall, I think the day was a great opportunity to work hard, but to also learn that in order to succeed,” said White “we have to work hard for the girl next to us and believe that as a team we will continue to win for each other.”
The team funded the training by holding fundraisers and collecting donations from local businesses and individuals. It was a “gift” to themselves for their hard work in and out of the classroom—they had the highest team GPA for NAIA in the country at 3.77, all while taking home the conference championship in the 14-15 season.
Learn More
For more about the Lady Eagles Soccer Team and Reinhardt Athletics, visit www.reinhardteagles.com
