Coach ,

Each and every year I attend dozens of coaches clinics, camps, and practices. I always hope to find one or two things to add to my team or myself as a coach at every event I attend. The best coaches are always stealing from other coaches. It was at my first Track and Football Consortium where I first heard the Feed the Cats Philosophy.

Tony Holler is the track coach who shared that day and he changed my outlook on a lot of things in my coaching, my teaching, and my personal life. It wasn’t the ideology of training that we agreed on most. It was the philosophical principles that drive the decisions he makes daily as a coach that resonated most with me. One of the most important lessons stemmed around the rabbit hunter. “He who chases two rabbits catches none.”

Link: Too Many Priorities

In our attempt to be great at everything we do, we often end up chasing too many rabbits. It’s the ability to isolate the need that best fits what we are called to do.

In the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown explains that it’s not about getting more done in less time, it’s about getting the right things done. How do we know what is right and what is essential? How do we measure our success towards this process? It’s all about accepting small wins. 

Link: Small Wins

Trying to make big changes quickly is a mistake. Giving up on something because it doesn’t materialize as fast as we’d like doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Accept small wins in the process. There are many ways to measure progress along the way. Tony and coaches alike have always recorded, ranked, and published their athletes' results. This ideology is great but mistakes can still be made along the way if you’re not careful.

Link: Don’t Let Today Ruin Tomorrow

In our pursuit of what is essential, it’s important to remember what lies ahead. Much like the process of small wins, we must never ruin tomorrow with the actions we take today. So much of life has the potential to affect tomorrow. 

Understanding the consequences of the decisions we make has a dramatic effect on our daily lives. There are so many things I’ve learned and applied to my own life listening to Tony. His impact on me extends further than his own presentations.

Always be growing,

-Coach Rathke and the T&F Community of Coaches helping Coaches

P.S. I’ve learned a ton from some of the best coaches in the world during the Track and Football Consortiums he hosts each year. Tony Holler’s resources and the replays from the Track and Football Consortium are all significantly marked down through Tuesday as a part of Cyber Monday. I want everyone to have the same opportunities I had for growth and learning. You never know, it just might change your trajectory in coaching. 

See all Cyber Monday Track Deals Here --->