Seminar focuses on overcoming adversity, being selfless

Following a three-win finish in 2014, Waldorf College football coach Kent Anderson asked his players to assess their season, according to a press release.

“When we came out last year, we took a poll from our players asking what was the reason they thought they didn’t have success,” Anderson said. “The overriding answer was they weren’t a team.”

After meeting a trainer from a Navy SEAL Special Warfare Combat Crewmen Scout Team, Anderson asked the instructor to bring his training exercises and message to his program.

“They were so gracious to come here,” Anderson said. “Who better to have come talk to you about becoming a unit than someone from the best team of any organization anywhere in the world?”

The team started Thursday morning with an hour-and-a-half seminar that focused on handling adversity. Pushing players to be selfless and learn to have a team-first attitude was at the forefront of the day’s agenda.

“It’s about teamwork and it’s not about themselves whatever you do in life,” said one of the Navy SEAL instructors. “That’s the message we’re trying to get across to these kids.”

The seminar emphasized the “big four” of mental toughness: goal-setting, visualizing goals, self-talk and stress control.

Encouraging players to support each other to manage responsibilities on and off the field was a major part of the SEALs’ message.

“Ultimately, they’re student-athletes and it’s student first for a reason,” explained the instructor. “The whole team concept is not just on the field. It goes back to the classroom also.”

Learning to manage stress beyond athletics was also heavily discussed during the morning seminar.

“You’re going to have that in life,” the instructor said. “At some point, you’re going to stop chasing a ball and there’s going to be other stressors out there in life, so we try to relate it to the student side and not just athletics.”

Once the seminar concluded, the Warriors were put to the test by the Navy SEALs. After making a run for a quick splash at the Forest City Family Aquatic Center, reverse crab walks and buddy carries were just a few of the grueling drills Waldorf players endured during the training session.

“Whatever you put your mind to with whatever exercises we’re doing and the mental toughness, you can accomplish it,” the instructor said.

The Warriors battled through the drills, showing perseverance and supporting each other as teammates.

“It’s totally mental,” the instructor said. “Your body will fail before your mind will quit.”

Waldorf opens the 2015 season on Aug. 29 against Kansas Wesleyan University in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Bolstorff Field.

Anderson said Thursday’s seminar and training brings a sense of unity to the program, which can help players push each other to achieve in all of life’s endeavors.

“It’s not all about just being on the field,” Anderson said. “It’s about life, it’s about the classroom, handling themselves socially and internal discipline. Who better than have teach them that than the Navy SEALs?”