"We needed to work on our mental toughness, our teamwork, our communication skills, our leadership methods and our discipline before we ever get on the basketball court to work on our game plans and strategy," head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said in explaining why she decided to utilize a former Navy SEAL instructor's organization to come to Atlanta and support a workout with GSU's strength and conditioning staff.
The Navy SEALs are known for being able to perform under pressure, stress and duress. They are one of America's elite military special operations forces. They push themselves to limits beyond normal comprehension and work together as a team better than almost any other in the world. They do what they do with honor and integrity, not for individual fame.
GSU's two-day, four-hour grueling course was led GSU strength coach Jamal Terry and observed by 10-year SEAL John McGuire, a soft-spoken warrior who has suffered through 29 broken bones with a mental and physical toughness beyond the measurability level of most people.
Meeting at the Sports Arena first, the women's basketball team worked day one at 6 a.m. at Cheney Stadium a few miles from campus and day two at 5:30 a.m. at the GSU Football facility. GSU's strength and conditioning staff have been working the team year round and those physical improvements have been obvious. Adding this SEAL program into the workout changed the intensity.
The SEAL instructors help conditioning staffs to get people out of their comfort zones to develop both the individual and the team. Sure, the workouts build strength, endurance, confidence and toughness. But, knowing when to lead, when to follow, when to help your teammate the most, how to do it when you're the most tired and when it matters the most are things that need taught.
"It's not a magic pill," the SEALs note. "You have to learn to do things the right way yourself, no one can do that for you. If you do what you always do, you will get only what you always got. So, you have got do even more, and most often, a lot more."
As the drills progress, you never stand and rest when you are done with a drill, you find a way to help the next person. You never stop and celebrate if you or your team finish the drill best, you prepare humbly for the next challenge.
In the cool, dark and damp mornings, an hour before the sun was even thinking about rising over the horizon, the women's basketball team was sweating profusely in the 50-degree darkness, wearing grass stains, yelling Hoo Yahs to one another, while beginning to understand how and what a leader does.
There were the traditional push-ups, ab crunches, bicycle kicks, leg lifts and strenuous physical tasks, all done as a team. There were races with crab walks, bear crawls, and ropes. There was pulling teammates on sleds. There were mental memorization tests while catching your breath before the next drill. There were races with three teammates carrying a fourth on their shoulders. There was intra-team competition to see who could be the toughest in endurance. There were team strategy sessions to figure out how to lift a large raft and balance it on paddle oars while walking across the field.
One player said "it hurts so good" to describe the feeling of knowing you're paying a price, but getting results and rewards as the dividends. The team learned more about trusting teammates and being there in so many different ways to support a teammate. The mental fortitude of not even thinking about letting a teammate down or giving up even the slightest was being taught and developed right before their eyes. Learning how to communicate, whether through words, signs or actions, was taught because having everyone working together on a goal is so crucial to the victory.
The big Navy SEALS Hummer may have pulled away from Georgia State, but the valuable lessons learned will remain for a long, long time with the women's basketball team. Hoo Yah.
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