The Importance of Character Building In Sports With Jamie McKinzen
Channel: Mental Toughness Trainer
Date: 2012-12-13

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Character Building in Sports Part 1
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Building a young athlete's character is influenced by the people they deal with in their chosen sport, like their coaches, team mates and parents. Character gets further developed along the way as they mature and discover things on their own.

Jamie McKinven, is the author of the book "So You Want Your Kid To Play Pro Hockey?". In this video, Jamie shares how playing hockey made a big impact on building his character.

"Throughout my childhood, all I could think about was playing hockey. I would spend hours and hours in the backyard on a 10 x 20 foot concrete slab shooting puck after puck into a net. Hockey really took over my life as I progressed through university and then eventually playing some pro.

Growing up I was never really a star on my team per se. I was always actually about a year behind everybody, because I was born in December.

Some studies show that a lot of athletes that progress are born in the first quarter of the year, so it kind of put me at a disadvantage. I was always the smallest kid.

My confidence was always down. That was something that was tough for me growing up.
As I progressed along, I always had a dream of playing NHL like everybody always does when they start. I was always taught at every level that I had to scratch and claw and work hard for everything I got.

As I got older and as I started to understand things better,
I understood how my work ethic carried me a lot further than maybe should have been required. I would say it was very tough.

That is why I wrote this book, I really wanted to show people that you don't always have to be your best, there are other ways to reach your goals.

When I was a kid I read autobiographies on Wayne Gretzky and Eric Lindros. These are players that you read these autobiographies and it's like a fantasy. They were always a star and everything came easily to them.

I think people get delusional if they think that is how life is supposed to be. But as you go through the trials and tribulations and things are difficult, I always believe that saying that, "Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger," in the sense that you kind of learn from these situations.

You are always pushing yourself and every time you come out of a situation and come out of some adversity, it builds your character. You always hear everyone talking about character in hockey.

They talk about it at every level of hockey, especially at the higher levels. "This kid has character. This player has character. These are all things that helped build his character."

To read the continuation of Jaymie's interview, please click this link: Confidence in Sports
Jamie McKinven was born in Kingston, Ontario. He grew up idolizing the high-octane players of the free-wheeling eighties only to break into hockey's higher levels during the tight-checking late nineties and 2000s.

McKinven scratched and clawed, sacrificed and laid it all on the line only to fall short of playing in the NHL and experiencing his ultimate dream. However, along the way, while riding the buses and living paycheck to paycheck, he discovered a great deal about life, love and the value of following through on a dream.

"So You Want Your Kid to Play Pro Hockey" guides parents along the often rocky minor and junior hockey path to a strangely fulfilling pro-hockey career. Along the way you will gasp with disbelief and laugh hysterically at Jamie's stories. This book is awesome for parents who want to better understand the life of a junior, NCAA and pro-hockey player.

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"The 10 Commandments For A Great Sports Parent" ebook

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