“When an opportunity comes, know you are ready, back yourself, trust yourself and your training & preparation!”.
An extraordinary result! Meet Heilala and Boston Phillips, siblings who just won their U19’s division at the NSW State Schools Surfing Titles.
A state title for surfing in NSW is only for a select few, it is so hard to obtain and way out of reach for most.
As their coach, here’s the key to their recent success.
“They turned up, they trained, they turned up again & trained again, they kept turning up & kept training to be the best they could!”
Sawtell Board Riders arranged coaching for Juniors, 11 agreed and there were 21 sessions over 4 months leading up to their NSW State Titles.
Both Heilala and Boston would turn up as much as they could, not because their parents made them, but because they wanted it. Regardless of the surf conditions they would turn up, sometimes they would have other commitments and only arrive for the 2nd half of training, but still turned up, they were focused, participated, listened and trained.
At times the surf was small and terrible, who would want to surf in bad weather, poor conditions, etc, but their willingness to do what it takes to train, improve and be prepared was obvious months before becoming a NSW state surfing champion.
Heilala and Boston started winning 5 months ago when they decided they would train and be ready to win, they wanted to improve, they wanted to be better, they obviously made firm decisions and followed through with the commitment to succeed. Succeed they did!
How surfing is judged? In surfing, competition heats are typically only 20 minutes, a buzzer sounds and then for the countdown, 4 surfers get their 2 best waves they catch scored out of 10 to get a total score out of 20 to earn their respective placings with 2 progressing and 2 knocked out.
Heilala and Boston each needed to progress through about 6 heats over several days and potentially 100’s of competitors to become the No1 surfer in NSW, very hard to do (in any sport).
“Winning starts well before the whistle blows!”
If you want to win in sport or business, prepare for it, some would argue Heilala and Boston won when they got into the final and the top 4 surfers, but winning is so much sweeter, knowing you went the extra mile to win is even sweeter again when it happens.
There are no guarantees in life, training and being prepared may not get you number 1 as it did here, but you will improve, you will succeed more with preparation mixed with your determination.
Congratulations Heilala and Boston.
“In life, opportunities appear & success happens more for those that prepare for their success!”
