February 24, 2014
“Great moments are born from great opportunities.”- Herb Brooks
Sometimes a team just needs that extra motivational boost to get their spirits up, perform to the best of their ability and achieve success. Team building quotes can be that motivation to allow a team to come together as one.
With the closing of another Olympic Games in Sochi, the great athletes that train so hard for the chance to fight for their country and succeed as a team are heading home. Athletes from across the world give up their lives for the opportunity to compete on the world’s biggest stage.
Every two years the world watches from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs that these athletes go through. In the end, medal or no medal, each athlete has had the opportunity and the honor to compete as one country, one team and develop new relationships across sports.
This week’s team building quote comes Herb Brooks who, after playing hockey himself for the US, coached US Men’s Ice Hockey to arguably its greatest team success of all time. Dubbed the “Miracle on Ice,” the US national team – made up of amateur and collegiate hockey players – upset the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic Games in Lake Placid, NY. The Soviets had won six of the previous seven gold medals in the Olympics and were favorited to defeat the Americans.
Brooks believed in his players. He knew the game was their moment. Before the game, he said in the locker room, “You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours.” Disney released a film about the 1980 Olympic team success in 2004 called ‘Miracle’ and Brooks served as a consultant during principal photography; however, the film was completed shortly before his death. At the end of the movie there is a dedication: “He never saw it. He lived it.”
The 1980 Olympic team players were amateurs. ABC sports anchor Jim McKay compared the teams to a group of Canadian college football players defeating the recent Super Bowl champions. However, they played and they succeeded as a team. The team’s coach and country inspired them and gave them the opportunity to work together to achieve greatness.
The 1980 Olympic hockey game is still recognized as one of the greatest sports moments in history, and in 1999 Sports Illustrated named it the Top Sports Moment of the 20th Century.
Was there ever a time at work that your team success came from an opportunity that didn’t seem possible?
Let us know about your own miracles! Check out our blog every week for more team building quotes to inspire you and your team, and let us know which ones motivate you to be the best you can be.
