Why Quitting Can Sometimes Lead to Bigger and Better Things

The old adage that…

“a winner never quits and a quitter never wins”

… has probably led to more young athletes suffering unnecessary mental anguish than some parents are willing to admit.

It’s old school locker room talk.

That’s all it is.

You see, quitters sometimes win…

… and winners are sometimes smart to quit.

Take Troy Aikman for example.

When things didn’t go according to plan for Troy at Univ. of Oklahoma, he transferred to UCLA.

No doubt there were Sooner fans who labeled him a “quitter”.

But it wasn’t that Troy didn’t have the guts to “stick it out” in Oklahoma.

Not even close.

He simply transferred to UCLA because he believed his talents would be better developed there. And once there, despite the doubters and the haters, Troy went on to become a star quarterback and eventually was chosen as the #1 overall draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys.

When he signed to play, he was set for life financially.

As you may well know, Aikman went on to become one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, winning Super Bowls under multiple coaches (including his old coach at Oklahoma!)

Was he a quitter?

Do you think he cared about the noise around him and that same fanatics claimed he’d never amount to something?

Of course not.

He was a CHAMPION.

Now, there’s a critical lesson here for young athletes.

And that is this…

Troy Aikman never quit on himself.

And he certainly didn’t quit the Oklahoma team with a sense of giving up.

He quit with a passion for getting better.

Real quitting is when you quit trying to do your best.

When you say to yourself, “what’s the use? Coach doesn’t play me anyway.” Your effort diminishes and you become a player with a bad attitude. You still show up at practice and go through the motions, but any real coach can tell from a mile away that you don’t really want to be there.

That’s real quitting.

But transferring your efforts is different from quitting.

I hear it all the time from parents…

“When he went out for the team, I told him… ‘Once you start something, you have to finish it. My kid will not be a quitter.’”

Terrible advice if you ask me.

Why make your kid keep doing something that’s not worthwhile for them?

Seems like a complete waste of time.

Wouldn’t they be better of putting their efforts into something else, where they can be more enthusiastic and probably enjoy greater success?

The truth is sports aren’t everything in life.

Many activities offer a person satisfaction and fulfillment.

So if one particular sport (like basketball) is failing to do that for your child, there’s no harm in getting them out of it.

Move on.

Life is too short.

Mano

P.S. Speaking of life being too short, I can’t believe we’ve already launched our 2025 summer basketball camps. It’s looking like it will be another record-breaking year and camps are already selling out. If you’d like to register before it’s too late, simply click the link below…

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