Sports leadership

Everyday I read the sports page of the Toronto newspaper and everyday I see some version of the same old comments about the hapless TO professional teams and why they can't win. I have been involved with minor sports almost 50 odd years as a player, coach and Manager as well as various positions with the local Baseball Association and I have come to believe that there are only 3 factors that provide an individual or team the opportunity to win at any level. These things apply to teams from a houseleague program all the way up to and including the Professional level. They are in order of priority, talent, leadership (coaching, managing etc) and the old perverbial luck. Talent is an obvious necessity but on its own does not guarantee success. There have been many talented athletes that have played at every level and have never won the major awards in their respective sports disciplines. At minor levels talent can have more of an effect because the distribution of talent can vary by population. Large centers usually benefit from this factor simply because of numbers whereas a small town with less of a base to call upon averages less overall talent. In the major leagues of pro sports money is generally the deciding factor in attaining talent although the overall level is much higher all across the board. The key factor in my opinion is the leadership aspect of any sport organization or team at any level. It encompasses so much when you consider the following. Talent has to be recognized, obtained, groomed, and then built into a team. Leadership has to provide an environment whereby athletes can learn and exhibit their talent at the optimum level. Very rarely does a coach have to teach someone to want to win but almost 100% of the time they have to teach athletes how to win. Certainly the technical skills can be derived from playing the sport at some level but the other more important attributes such as team building and managing people capabilities are not so easily acquired. Matching the leadership talent with the sports specific athletic talent is the never ending quest of each sports organization as it strives to create a winner. Then you need the last thing I mentioned and that is is luck. There is really only one thing you can do regarding this factor. You be successful with the first two to get you into a position that it can be a factor at all. For instance ending up in last place doesn't leave much room for luck to affect your team results in any way. It usually comes into play when you are playing for all the marbles against another equally talented and well coached team in a short series where small things can have a major affect on outcomes. So listen up Toronto sports teams get the top echelon fixed by obtaining good leadership or by providing your staff with these skills. Just because these guys have played pro sports doesn't mean they possess leadership abilities so bury the pride spend the time and money on education and it will pay off, I guarantee.