Thoughts on Vegas and Size in Athletics

Well, I made it back from Vegas in one piece once again. What a crazy city, I have a hard time imagining spending any more than a few days there at a time.  Anything more would be absolutely exhausting.  The place is a non-stop assault on your visual and auditory senses.

Obviously I failed at getting any writing done during my down time, to be honest there really wasn’t much to be had.  The time I did get, I spent mindlessly staring at the television decompressing from the day’s events and conversing about rugby this or rugby that. 

Besides getting to watch high level international rugby and meeting a number of great new potential recruits, the highlight of the trip was being reassured by some of the best in the 7s business that the techniques I’ve been teaching aren’t simply some self invented BS.  While I didn’t come away from the coaching course feeling enlightened with a wealth of new knowledge, I did feel vindicated in the concepts I have been promoting.  That’s a win in my book.  Additionally, it was pretty cool to meet two of the most iconic figures in the 7s game to date, Waisale Serevi (renowned as “The King of 7s”) and Ben Gollings (the current all time point scorer in IRB 7s history).

Serevi, #6 in white

Gollings, #10 in white

Beyond their robust understanding of the game and their finely tuned field awareness and ball skills, the most striking commonality between the two greats, at least from my perspective, was their physical size.  Serevi stands at 5’7” 187lbs and Gollings at 5’9” 179lbs.  Both men are well put together and fit, but hardly what you would call imposing figures.  None the less, both have excelled at the pinnacle of their chosen sporting code.

This occurrence isn’t reserved to rugby alone.  Take the NFL for example; one has to look no further than the career rushing leaders list to find this phenomenon.  It isn’t until number seven all time, Eric Dickerson, where you find a runner over the six foot mark.  I’ve listed the top five below.  It’s essentially a who’s who of NFL running backs.

1.      Emmitt Smith 5’9” / 216 lbs

2.      Walter Payton 5’10” / 200 lbs

3.      Barry Sanders 5’8” /  200 lbs

4.      Curtis martin 5’11”  / 210 lbs

5.      LaDanian Tomlinson 5’10” /  215 lbs

Barry Sanders & Emmitt Smith

Quite the list isn’t it?  What I find interesting, is that despite this evidence indicating that men of smaller stature can in fact compete, if not thrive, at the highest levels of competition, I continue to hear stories of rugby athletes here in the U.S. being passed on by coaches based on physical size.  I for one don’t get it.  In my mind (as a coach myself), the biggest measuring stick for an athlete ought to be on field performance.  If I put you on the field and you get your job done, I could care less what the ruler and / or scale has to say.  Furthermore, and I realize this is to some degree throwing my own profession under the bus, the same can be said about performance testing results.  The numbers are great, but they don’t always tell the entire story.  There is certainly something to be said about throwing an athlete (who has proven to have potential) into the deep end to see whether he sinks or swims, despite what the numbers might be indicating.  

I leave you with these couple of thoughts:

Coaches – Resist the urge to become lost in the numbers.  There is a good chance you may be unintentionally blinding yourself to amazingly talented individuals standing right in front of you, or perhaps just behind someone else (height joke).

Athletes – Refuse to view the numbers as the “be all end all” of your potential.  Maybe you’re not the biggest (fastest, quickest, smartest, strongest, most powerful, hopefully you’re catching on at this point) guy or gal on the field, but this doesn’t mean that you don’t posses other valuable attributes which can aid in your success.  Lean on your strengths and work to improve your weaknesses (unfortunately as far as height goes, you will have to work with what you’ve got).  Above all else, have the courage to believe in yourself despite critiques.  Don’t let the perceptions of others become your own self fulfilling prophecy.