Motivation- Finding it, using it isn't always easy for teams do

In some ways the Roman gladiators had it easy.

Yes, winning or losing was often a matter of life or death.

But then again, there weren't many losing streaks or the possibility of a down season.No one to face up to after a bad match. No dealing with the media after a loss. No news at night and no morning paper.

No game film to pick apart. No beating yourself up over a dumb move. No Monday morning gladiators.

Defeat was pretty much final.

Today we live in a more civilized society, but the sports arena still can be a brutal place.

Games still revolve around winning and losing. And the latter, on a consistent basis, can be a trying experience that tests the souls of players and coaches.

While schools have trophy cases to proudly store their accomplishments and provide memories of great seasons, there's no place to lock away a dismal season. They're bound to happen. For every team that is 20-0, there is likely a team 0-20.

How do you face it? How do you hold everything together, when one loss after another wants to unravel the fabric of team unity? How do you pull yourself off the mat when there's a good likelihood you'll be dropped back onto it in no time?

"It's much, much easier to motivate when you're winning," said Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner. "You've got to think a lot more about motivation when you're losing."

The biggest concern many coaches have is when his team collectively hits the wall and he loses control. It doesn't happen often, but teams sometimes quit on a coach.

David Mirly is in his first year as boys' basketball coach at Chaffee High School, a program that has struggled to win. The Red Devils are 5-15.

"They're still working hard even though wins haven't been there," Mirly said. "It's a credit to how bad they want to win."

Mirly said his team still believes there are games his team can win this season and that serves as a motivator. That kind of optimism is something Southeast psychology professor Dr. Paul Lloyd has studied for years.

"An optimistic outlook in life is the best predictor in college and that translates over to sports," Lloyd said.

Optimism, he said, is a result of how a person expains events to himself. One key dimension of an optimistic outlook is that bad situations are temporary, such as a losing season.

"Optimism can be learned," he said.

Lloyd is a fan of Southeast basketball and said he's been impressed with the team despite its 3-19 record entering Saturday's game.

"I'm inspired by the Indians," said Lloyd, noting improvement and relentlessnes in the face of adversity.

Garner is going through one of his few losing seasons in more than 30 years as a head coach. His resume includes an undefeated Division II national championship team at Fort Hayes, Kan. Just two years ago Garner's Indians went 24-7 and fell seconds short of an upset of LSU in the NCAA Tournament. But this year, Southeast has been haunted by losing late leads and losing close games. Aware of the ugliness that can occur, Garner's been all the more impressed by his own team.

"I've got good guys who are really hanging in there and it's hurting them to lose," he said. "Not many teams hang together like this team has that have anywhere close to the record we've got."

Garner said he always preaches the motto of "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters" to his team.

Garner has seen the ugliness that can occur with the wrong reaction, citing a team this year that had four or five players quit.

"I can name a team that's lost a lot of games, had a fight in the huddle among their own players and it carried over into the dressing room," he said, "because losing just brings out the worst. And our guys have really hung in there."

After a team falls short of its preseason goals, it's important to establish new ones to keep players motivated. A coach faces the challenge of getting a disappointed team to accept the new goals.

"You have to sell it to them, but you're not selling something that is not a possibility," Garner said. "You're not just trying to just trick 'em. You're saying this is a real possibility, but here's what we've got to do to have that chance. We've got to get better. We've got to come to practice every day and practice with enthusiasm and with energy, and then we've got to get better, cause we're not that far away."

After encountering too many conference losses, the Indians' goal had to be revamped from winning the OVC title to qualifying for the postseason tournament.

Mirly said he believes that re-establishing goals is important for any team, not just those that are struggling.

"Every team should have to adjust their goal because they're either doing better than they thought or they're not doing quite as well," he said.

The right approach

The most common solution to a poor season might be to push harder, hound players and practice longer. That may seem to make sense, but coaches often find they have to be more sensitive to their players during hard times.

"If you're winning, everyone's telling them how wonderful they are," Garner said.

When a team is losing, opposing fans and even home fans can be brutal. While a team may fall short on many fronts, a coach's best approach may be to find silver linings instead of dwelling on the negative.

"You can go to any game and can nit-pick that tape apart and show them all the negatives if you want to go that route, or you can really pick some good things out of it," Garner said.

First-year Cape Girardeau Central coach Derek McCord tries to take a positive approach in his practices, which have been shortened from two hours to an hour and a half in an effort to keep his players mentally fresh during a 4-18 season.

"I've had 27-3 and 27-4 conference champion teams at Scott City and it was easy to get on those teams hard and push them to the limit," McCord said. "When you're struggling and young, you need to be patient and nurture them. That's why I think this year is going to make me a better coach."

Garner likewise has shortened practices and occasionally gives players an extra day off.

"It's not that you need to work harder, but the mental part of it now is more important than anything and keeping their minds fresh and keeping their enthusiasm and energy up," he said.

When times are heavy, lighter moments can be therapeutic. Following a recent practice, Garner had players Drew DeMond and Daniel Weaver sing a duet after they both missed slam dunks in practice. The pair opted for "The National Anthem" and the rendition drew laughs from teammates.

At Chaffee, Mirly tries to make drills competitive with the winners earning rewards, including not having to run sprints. Sometimes he sets up game situations where he puts time on the clock and puts the varsity down by five points to see if they can rally against the junior varsity.

A looming opponent often stays in the distance.

"We don't worry about the other team," Mirly said. "We just worry about ourselves."

Small victories

Woodland coach Curtis Finley stepped into a difficult situation this year, taking over a Cardinals team that went winless last season. Finley, who coached a Kelly girls team that was 23-5 two years ago, said the community understands the position of the program and is simply looking for improvement.

The team has improved in the win column with a 4-15 record.

"We've had a very successful year," said Finley. "They've learned how to win and compete. Any additional wins from here to the end of the season, you may call it gravy. The attitudes of most of all of the girls have been very good."

Improvement is welcome in more places than the win column. When victories won't find a team, sometimes the team has to go looking for victories.

Finley said he occasionally retrieves the scorebook from last year and talks to his girls about holding an opponent to fewer points than last year, or challenges his girls to score more points than a year ago.

"We try to find small victories in the losses," Finley said. "We'll look at halftime scores. If we compete for a half, then we want to compete for three quarters the next time we play the team. You look at stats and try to improve in every area you can."

Likewise, McCord came away proud of his team after a recent 72-60 loss to state-ranked Poplar Bluff. After the Tigers trailed 39-12 at halftime, they outscored the Mules 48-33 in the second half and forced Poplar Bluff to reinsert its starters.

"I think we scared them in the second half," McCord said proudly.

"I'd like to think of us as a team that never gives up," senior guard Matt Cardin said. "Even if we're down 30, we're going to keep fighting.

"Maybe it was the way we were raised. And it's something coach McCord has always preached at us. He's just pounded into us you never give up. It's just kind of the way we are."

Building toward the future

Believing you're affecting the future can make the present more tolerable.

While Woodland has improved its record, a terminal reality also is present. Most teams live with the reality that there's little to no hope for playoffs. The Cardinalsplay in the same district as Notre Dame, which is 19-2 and returns every key player from a team that reached the 2A state championship game last season.

"The girls know it will take a few years," Finley said. "They want the program to be built."

Woodland put together fourth- and fifth-grade teams last year and added junior high teams this year.

The same mentality presides at Chaffee.

"It's not a one-year turnaround here. I told our seniors they need to pave a road so others can follow it," Mirly said. "They're setting a work ethic. If the wins come, they come. If they don't, they're installing a good work ethic."

Cardin and Elliott Swoboda, the only two Central seniors, have stuck it out even though several teammates quit.

"It's been difficult," Cardin said. "The easy thing to do is quit and turn in your gear. But that's not how I am or how Elliott is. We've got to lead the guys and kind of set the foundation for the new program."

Coaches often refer to their teams as family and seek support from within.

They also rely heavily on their own families. McCord and his wife, Shelby, have two young sons -- Marshall, 2, and J.D., three months.

"It's helped me this season coming home," McCord said. "It keeps it all in perspective. That's the honest-to-goodness truth. It helps take the sting out of a tough loss."

Garner said he remembers early in his coaching career when his father provided advice after he saw him dejected after a tough loss.

"My boys were little then and he'd say, 'Gary, just look over at those boys, those two sons you've got and be damn glad they're healthy and happy.' In other words, there's lot more important things. You can still do your job just as good and care, but keep everything in proper perspective."

After all, it's not life or death.

jbreer@semissourian.com

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