Football - Australian Rules

Let's put it this way: I wanted to be the greatest player that ever pulled on an Australian football boot, even while I was at grade/primary school.

What I DID possibly become, on the other hand, was one of the greatest players ever to play 'end to end or kick to kick Australian football', which was quite a different sports activity, but one, in its day, leading to the more formal Australian football game itself; but it was an individual challenge rather than team engagement - further, its prime aim was to gain possession of the ball rather than also learn to dispose of it, and it was an informal game [despite the ferocity at times of its competitiveness] of which no record was ever made and no particular credence is formally given it either!! So the best exponents of such games likely remain relatively 'unknown' - certainly over the wider community.

I achieved this level by a great deal of individual, self-driven practice and great personal vision; I also made sacrifices and took on elements of hardship as part of the growth and achievement mechanism. I was also inspired by reading about past Greats of the formal football game itself, and in my practice, I imagined myself confronted by every conceivable obstacle, situation and challenge.

Most importantly, I applied the teachings of Jesus from the Bible - both as I could apply them to the game itself and to my life in general. This all made me an almost impassable football competitor - pushed to the end!

Later, in high school, my prime sports' interest shifted when my AFL football team dropped in its performance over a few years - for that and other reasons, my inspiration for the game deteriorated.

I turned to rebound handball [commonly called 'wall downball'], which was the prime boys' sports engagement at high school level at the time around most schools in Australia - though, again, at that point, not a formally-recognized "sport". I applied the same types of principles and personal application and dedication to become school champion at that game as I had previously done with the informal football.

Now both of these activities had their drawbacks in a real world setting as we played them:

In football, I practised very hard … exceptionally hard - especially by myself and with considerable vision, but I much preferred and spent 90% of my time playing the individual challenge of end to end competitive game in the public setting, rather than getting fairly early in my years into a proper club and team game setting. Even in the grade school football team, in grade 4 at least two of the other grade 4 boys made the school team; I did not even go for try-outs in Grade 4 [I just had this HUGE top league vision in my head that would be many years away for a young guy]; even in grade 5, I only tried out for the very last game, and made the team. The next inter-school season when I was finally in Grade 6 was for a greatly reduced season of only 3 matches - which, of course, is nothing! During my teens I joined no club to learn team engagement, though I did play school house matches.

The Handball drawback was that it, as opposed to the footy game, was really an individual game, with a more genuine future of one-on-one engagement, whereas most of my teen experience was to be amongst group competition.

Fortunately, when a formal association was finally organized for this game when I was 30+, I was eventually, able to adjust to the more intensive one-on-one engages ... but it took me a few years to again reach my best play. Eventually, I was fortunate enough to win 3 state singles titles in a row. In doubles, I fared better: my partner and myself never dropped even a game in all our competition over 4 years as a doubles pair. (He was the only partner I was ever to play with in competition doubles play as it turned out ;)

But it would be fair to say that as far as is known, I became the greatest player ever to play doubles rebound handball. As I also had more overall success in the singles competitions than any other player in state-level competition, one could probably draw from that that I also topped the list as the best ever singles player to play in the 'formal' handball arena - at least, in our small part of the world; and in those days, Victoria had most of the best players of most of the known sports in Australia.

So, I don't know how helpful all this information might be, or has been, to you, but to draw conclusions, I would say that as well as a strong inner personal Vision about what you want to achieve, the task of achieving the "greatest" requires an extremely enormous level of dedication, huge personal sacrifice, considerable hard work and a dedication to the application of wholesome life principles as in Jesus' teachings. Almost as importantly, one also needs plenty of actual "Match" practice in the actual sport per se that you decide to give your heart and [to a degree] your life to … that is, if you should ever HOPE to be "the Greatest that has Ever Been".

Are you ready for that level of commitment, because that is exactly what the Best will take??

I also learnt this other great lesson, though too late for one of those two major sports in my life, it was not too late for the other:

Sports are very 'specific' things. Even a great racquetball player may only be just an average squash player, yet the two are both engaged with racquets and balls and are played on the very same courts!! … just as the greatest grass court tennis players are not the greatest clay court players, yet the play the exact same game with the same set of rules!!

Life is quite uncanny and very specific like that!

Further Highly Powerful Thoughts and Applications:

1. VISION - you MUST have a clear vision of how you want your life to be. This is where most people miss it. Without a vision you WILL perish, you will never achieve your dreams & goals. Get REALLY clear on every aspect of your life; write it out in present tense and in vivid detail. Write and Speak only in terms of your new life.

2. PURPOSE - Why do you want it? How does your new life feel? Who is proud of you?

3. FAITH - Knowing that it is already yours! "When you pray, pray believing that it already is yours, and it WILL be yours." - Mark 11:24 Again, never speak about what you don't want or complain about your 'lot in life' - ONLY speak about what is yours to come but as if you already have it!

4. GRATITUDE - Gratitude moves us closer to the source. Give ALL the glory to God as He gives all things to you, even your very breath. James said even be grateful for your challenges because mixed with faith it creates in us endurance and patience! (James 1:2-4) Speaking gratitude always increases our faith- if ever you find yourself lacking faith speak out loud what you are grateful for, especially your new life.

5. ACTION - You have probably heard it before … Faith without works is dead! Many people watch The Secret and then think all they have to do is sit at the kitchen table and hum, or buy a lotto ticket and they will be blessed with truckloads of money. It ain't gunna happen!! We must 'ACT in accordance to our Faith.' Jesus said "I only do what my father does.

" What did His father do?

As a Child of God, YOU have the power within you.

All you really need is the Belief.