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Today I spoke of school culture and how we need to build on our culture of excellence in all areas of school life.
What if China played rugby?
Why are the Jamaicans such good sprinters? Why does South Korea produce so many exceptional golfers, women in particular? Why is the middle-distance champion in the Olympics almost always from Kenya or Ethiopia? Why does Egypt continue to produce such top-quality squash players? Despite our own country’s extraordinary record in World Cups, why is New Zealand considered one of the top rugby-playing nations in the world over long periods of time and indeed one of the most successful teams in any sport? The list of top sports teams could include many such as Manchester City, the Dallas Cowboys but also the West Indies cricket teams from the 1980s.
These questions fascinate me – what determines success, what drives this? Even more so when you look at the population figures of these countries and the pool of available people to select from.
Ethiopia 94 million
Kenya 39 million
Egypt 88 million
South Korea 48 million
West Indies 45 million
New Zealand 5,3 million
Jamaica 2,8 million
If you compare this with China (2 billion), India (1,5 billion) and the USA (350 million) you would think that these mega-countries would be winning everything. The logic surely must be that the more people one has to choose from, the better chances you have of being the best – in everything. But this is not the case. I love using the All Blacks as an example – statistically and arguably the best performing sports team on the planet from one of the smallest countries. And Jamaica and sprinters…
So what makes these smaller countries good? What makes them better than a country with so many more people than them?
There may be factors such as environment and training conditions – certainly that plays a part in middle and long distance running where high-lying countries have an advantage as athletes have to train their bodies to live on lower oxygen levels.
There is also the factor of success breeding success and role models develop – certainly in the case of the South Korean golfers to the extent that many young girls want to emulate the top female golfers who are from South Korea. In Jamaica there must be hundreds of aspiring sprinters wanting to emulate heroes such as Usain Bolt and Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
But there are two factors that stand out for me – culture and hunger/desire.
There is a country culture that can contribute as the whole country gives support to a particular sport. I have visited New Zealand three times and the nation’s support for rugby has to be seen to be believed. There is almost 100% support for the team – always. A culture of success is created and built upon – often through support.
Perhaps though, the strongest driving force is desire – in the case of Egypt which is not a rich country. If you make it in squash there, you can feed your family and be a financial success – quite a driving force. Similar in Sri Lanka, an island of 20 million people who produce remarkable cricketers also often as a means of escaping poverty.
So, what drives us and what is our culture at Bishops? We are a relatively small boys school, yet we consistently produce results that are outstanding, academically, culturally and in sports. We have created a culture of all-round excellence that we need to guard and build upon – in all that we do.
We need to have a school culture that encourages effort and sets high standards. We need to have a hunger that comes literally from having nothing – a hunger to succeed. We need to have a desire – real desire not just words. Desire that comes from deep inner feelings of a need to succeed and a need to do well. And that must come from us all – whether we are the performers/players or whether we support those who do.
You see – it’s not about size, it’s not about how many people we have. It never has been and never will be. If it was, then China or India would be top at all things, perhaps even the Rugby World Cup! Yet they don’t have a desire to do so. Success is about the culture you create in your community and about the desire that people have to achieve success within that culture. You only have to look to our Springbok rugby team in World Cup years to see how deep desire often leads to success!
If we have lost that culture, in any activity, we need to work really hard to rebuild it. Through support from us all, through giving everything we have in our practice or performance, through our support as spectators and the cheerleaders of our fellow pupils. We need to continue to strive to be successful in ALL we do, giving all we have in support of a successful culture of excellence.
I close with words from Edward Hale I read when I face what I think are tough challenges:
“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”
Go out there and build on our culture of excellence. It is up to us as individuals and as groups to unite and defend our culture. |
