This is what I also love about sport.

At first, we see highlights. But when we look deeper, we see something more important: relationships, trust, pain, support, identity, fear, courage and love.

A great coach is never only someone who designs plays or training sessions. A great coach creates an environment where a person can become more fully themselves. Sometimes that means pushing, protecting, telling the truth or simply being there when the athlete is falling apart, or even back off an a bit disappear if it is needed for the athletes maturity.

Lauren Betts story reminds me that talent does not protect anyone from suffering. Success on the outside does not always mean peace on the inside. You can be tall, gifted, praised, watched by millions and still feel lost, that is why psychological safety matters so much.

In sport, and in life, people need a place where they can say: “I am not okay,” without being destroyed for it, this is the beginning of real strength.

Many athletes spend years living inside a very small box:

• Wake up

• Train

• Eat

• Recover

• Watch film

• Lift

• Compete

• Repeat

  The discipline is beautiful, but it can also become dangerous if the person forgets that they are more than the sport.

This is where coaches, parents, teammates and close friends become so important. Behind every athlete who rises again, there is usually people who helped them remember who they were when they could not see it themselves.

That is why I believe the best teams are not only built on talent, they are built on trust!!!

Fundamentals, consistency, hard work matters. But love, safety, authenticity and the courage to be vulnerable also matters.

March Madness is a good reminder because it compresses life into a few weeks. Because we are not only watching basketball, we are witnessing how teams and individuals try to become whole under pressure.