Coach John Wooden's Success

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In today’s society, success is defined by money, power, social status and material possessions. In 2001, legendary Coach John Wooden gave his personal definition of success at the annual TED talk conference as “peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you’re capable.” During his tenure as coach of the UCLA men’s basketball team, Wooden sought to remind his players that they were there for an education first and foremost. In that time he tried to impart as much knowledge to his players as possible. Drawn from his experiences growing up in Indiana, his time as an English teacher and his enjoyment of poetry and literature Mr. Wooden’s wealth of knowledge and experience helped …show more content…
Wooden discusses on education, success, reputation and character as something from a bygone era that’s long since forgotten or dismiss it as something unworkable. But Mr. Wooden’s philosophies may still be useful today and while his reputation as the most successful coach in NCAA basketball history is unmatched, education was always his top priority. In his time at UCLA, Wooden coached hundreds of basketball players, 20 of whom were All-Americans. Names such as Walt Hazzard, Gail Goodrich, Lew Alcindor (later know as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Lucius Allen, Mike Warren, Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, Henry Bibby, Bill Walton, Keith Wilkes, Richard Washington and Dave Meyers. All of whom graduated from UCLA before going on to professional careers in the National Basketball Association. Some players, like Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who both graduated with B.A’s in history, or Sidney Wicks, who graduated with a degree in sociology have gone on to careers beyond playing basketball, including acting, sports commentary and real …show more content…
In Europe and in particular, Great Britain, young boys, some as young as twelve years old are plucked from obscurity and given promises of fame and fortune to sign on with soccer clubs. When they reach the age of sixteen, and if they show the talent needed to become a professional, some kids will leave high school to try and sign professional contracts and begin to earn more money in a week than the average person earns in a year working a regular job. This sudden burst of wealth can adversely affect these kids and some clubs do not provide the financial help they need to handle this wealth. This can lead to some terrible investments, drug and alcohol issues and eventual bankruptcy. One of the best examples of this is a player called George Best. A young man whose talent was discovered at the age of fifteen, he signed with Manchester United, the biggest team in soccer. Best was without doubt the most talented player of the era. But success, money and fame led to years of alcoholism, womanizing and his eventual death at the age of fifty nine from a kidney infection due to his continued alcoholism. We can only speculate that if Best had received a proper education in his youth that his career and life path might have taken a vastly different
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