"Hold the Rope"

Every year a college cross country team wins the NCAA title. Every year the best high school team wins the state crown. These teams have one thing in common; No matter how tough it became throughout their season, they did one thing -- they held the rope!

What is "holding the rope?" Imagine that you are hanging from the edge of a cliff with a drop of two thousand feet. The only thing between you and a fall to your death is a rope, with the person of your choice on the other end. Who do you know that has the guts to pull you to safety? Who will hold the rope? Who do you know that is going to let that rope burn their hand and not let go? How many people that you know are going to withstand the burning pain and watch the blood drip from their hands for you?

If you can name two people, that's not good enough, because those two people might not be around. The next time your team is together, look around and ask yourself, "who could I trust to hold the rope? Who is going to let their hands bleed for me?" When you can look at every member on your team and say to yourself that they all would hold the rope, you are destined to be a successful team.

The team that holds the rope when the going gets tough are winners. When races get tough or practices make you want to puke. Encourage your teammates to "hold the rope -- let it burn but don't let go!" Every year there are winners and losers in all sports. Every year the winners hold the rope. You don't have to have the best team in the race to win. If you race with poise and do what your coaches ask of you, and most of all -- hold the rope -- you'll be successful. No matter what sport you play, in order to win, you need to be committed to your team. If you're supposed to run six times per week, do it. If you have to lift weights three times per week and do core exercises daily, don't miss one workout. Once you start letting up at practice or start missing workouts, you've begun killing the team because you didn't hold the rope!

Don't let your team down! And always Hold the rope!

This isn’t just a slogan. This is a commitment. To paraphrase; you are not a team because you have matching jerseys, you are a team because of what you go through together and because you respect, trust, and care for each other. That is what these ropes symbolize. Your commitment to trust, care, and respect everyone on this team.