20 of My Favorite Sports Quotes for Those Hard Days
The lessons learned from sports are endless. Every game, every practice isn’t complete without learning something new. Win or lose. One of the reasons I strongly encourage my kids to participate in sports is for their physical health and their emotional and mental health. Making lifelong friends, celebrating when they’ve accomplished a goal, or finding out they just made a top team are all happy parts of playing sports.
But there are hard days too. When they’ve experienced a tough loss. When they suffered an injury. And when they feel discouraged and are questioning whether they want to continue. So here’s a list of my favorite quotes to encourage your young athlete on those really rough days.
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I cannot accept not trying.”
- Michael Jordan
“To be prepared is half the victory.” Miguel Cervantes
“Winning takes talent; to repeat takes character.” John Wooden
“It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” Paul “Bear” Bryan
“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” Bo Jackson
“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
“Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.” Ted Williams
”Don’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get.” Michael Phelps
“Don’t practice till you get it right, practice till you can’t get it wrong.” McKayla Maroney
“I am building a fire, and every day I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.” Mia Hamm
“Losing is part of the game. If you never lose, you are never truly tested, and never forced to grow." David Sirlin
“Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts." John Wooden
“You have no choices about how you lose, but you do have a choice about how you come back and prepare to win again." Pat Riley
“Failure does not come from losing, but from not trying.” Larry Brown
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” Vince Lombardi
“Winning takes talent; to repeat takes character.” John Wooden
“A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” Mary Lou Retton
“Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.” Ross Perot
“Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.” Laird Hamilton
“To uncover your true potential you must first find your own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them.” Picabo Street
