An Excerpt from A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp

People ask me all the time to describe my book, and I find myself still working on my elevator story. Is it a history of the land of Interlaken where Olympia Sports Camp now resides? Is it a collection of stories through interviews about the people at Olympia?  Is it philosophical in nature? Is it a motivational tool? Is it about mentoring and leadership? Will I learn about myself when reading this book, even though I know nothing about Olympia?

The answer is yes.


This excerpt is taken from the introduction to Chapter 4- Meet the Mentors. The book interviewed 13 coaches from across the breadth of the Olympia experience and their stories enhance the view that a hero on a journey needs mentors to help them figure out the path. The athlete dreaming of next steps, the student whose goals may far outweigh their current situation,and even to the parents of a newborn who know they are on a new journey that is exciting, life changing, and maybe a bit scary. Any journey can have fear and excitement, and it's great to have others who have walked our same walk to share their acquired wisdom. 

The best part of meeting the mentors in Chapter 4 is that we learn that of course our mentors were mentored by others, and that we will mentor, perhaps mentoring others before we even realize that we have anything to offer. In writing this chapter I got to meet some of the finest people in their chosen field, and in Meet The Mentors you'll meet them too.




One's journey into an unknown world is aided and abetted by those who have come before us or have walked the walk we are willing to  explore. This involves a paradigm shift from the  'me' ego-based mindset of the world and getting to a 'we' heroic mindset based on sharing and accepting the shared experience and wisdom of others. Meeting the mentors involves seeking advice and using the mentors as models. Self-monitoring of our own worldviews, thoughts, self-taught attitudes that are a part of who we are is also necessary at this stage of the hero's journey in order to truly absorb the mentors wisdom and to get on the path we need to follow to get to where we want to go. This takes a balanced approach to learning and the ability to visualize our goals, our future, since most of  us are unsure of the specifics of the path to growth that we are undertaking.

The legion of highly successful coaches that have worked at Olympia is astounding. The role of such mentors in a successful sports camp is key to the longevity that Olympia enjoys. True heroic coherence takes a sharing of our gifts and knowledge gathered from our own journeys for the benefit of others. That is Olympia. Through the efforts and connections of Coach Grace, the incredible coaching staff has always been a hallmark of the success of the camp. The journey of each of these coaches should be celebrated. They have walked the walk that they are now encouraging others to believe in. We follow these journeys as representative of the steps it takes to become a hero in our own journey 

A Hero's Journey:Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp pg. 45-46












Comments

  1. Greg RogersSeptember 17, 2024 at 6:22 AM

    So true Chris. The great coaches of the past opened the door to the unknown and paved the way for those new coaches to follow.

    ReplyDelete

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