The primary focus at The T Squash Academy is building character through squash. Strong character is not an innate skill that kids have, but one that is learned through time, through repetition and with guidance by their coaches and peers. One of the areas where character matters is the way a child thinks about winning and how they react to losing. We encourage children to develop their own way of winning. Here’s a little guide to a winner’s thought process.

My Way of Winning:

When I play, I like to win. But winning is not just about beating my opponent. I think of winning as achieving the highest I can achieve in any given match. I like to push myself to do the best I can, to push harder and higher than those around me; to do better than I have done before. That is my way of winning.

Beating my opponent is not always a part of winning – especially when I face good competition. I won’t win every point and every match I play. I will lose sometimes.

But the way I handle losing is a big part of my way of winning. I can learn as much about my way of winning when I lose, as I can when I win.

I can practice my way of winning every time I step on court.

I can keep a winner’s attitude, a winner’s way of thinking, a winner’s way of responding to losses, mistakes, and setbacks.

How do I do this? When I step on court, I remind myself. . .

I will put my full energy into the next point–this point–at all times, up or down in a match. When I am scrambling and can only play defense, I will play defense for as long as can;

when I’m up and able to attack, I will go for the win, even if I miss. I will play smart, I will keep trying, I will keep scrapping. I will look ahead and believe.

If can do this on every point I play, I will either win the match or stand tall trying.

If I come up short, I will know that my best effort was lower than my opponents on that day. My opponent will have pushed me to my limit and I will find that my best just wasn’t enough on that day. There is no shame in that.

It will hurt but I’ll take my medicine because, in the end, what I really want is to know is my very best. I want to deliver my best performance on court on a given day, to strive to the maximum of my abilities, to be tested and to stand strong in the test.

If I am tested and stand strong, then I am a winner. I will have reached my goal. Win or lose, I will have played like a champion. That is my way of winning.

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