43
Tressel speaks to CHS students
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel spoke to Canfield High School students in Matt Koenig’s Impact of Literature in Athletics classes, which read his book “The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life” on May 3.
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School students in Matt Koenig’s Impact of Literature in Athletics classes welcomed Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel who spoke to students about his book, “The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life,” on May 3.
By ABBY SLANKER
Canfield High School students in Matt Koenig’s Impact of Literature in Athletics classes welcomed Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel for a book talk on May 3.
The classes read the book “The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life,” which shares former Ohio State football coach Tressel’s “Big Ten” fundamentals for success: attitude, discipline, faith, handling adversity and success, excellence, love, toughness, responsibility, team and hope.
Tressel focused on six areas of the Wheel of Life and Block O Life. He called on six students to help him convey each area, with the first student suggesting caring and giving.
“The first area we will talk about today is caring and giving. When you go out into the community to make a difference, you may be surprised with the impact you make. You are able to go out and touch someone else and make a difference in someone’s life. Once you realize the impact you make, you will want to do more. And you will realize that helping someone else does more for you than the person you are trying to help, and you will continue helping,” Tressel said.
The next area Tressel focused on, which was suggested by a student, was family.
“When you go to college, your life takes different turns. You must maintain a strong relationship with your family and continue to grow with your family from a distance. You must also have an attitude of gratitude. You need to remember how fortunate you are to have your family and that they are there for you and support you,” Tressel said.
Tressel went on to explain how he involved his players’ families in the OSU football program.
“We wanted the players’ families to be involved in their student-athlete’s life. We held picnics and get-togethers for all their families and I know they appreciated that, and so did I,” Tressel said.
With his next student suggestion, Tressel focused on health.
“It’s important to have life-long health goals. It might not be something you are thinking about at your age, but you have to start thinking about health goals when you are young. You can stay healthy by thinking healthy, eating healthy and having a good activity level. You need to train safely, but not over-train What this does is give you a long-term fitness plan,” Tressel said.
While still focusing on health, Tressel stressed the importance of rest.
“People between the ages of 18 and 22 need their rest. They need enough sleep and their body needs to rest. I used to tell my college players that their bodies are not going to perform they way they need them to if they do not get enough rest,” Tressel said.
The next area suggested to Tressel was spirituality.
“Spirituality includes morals and ethics. That you are doing things right. You need to know who you are. What is it you really value the most and what is right and wrong,” Tressel said.
Tressel also touched on being a good friend.
“A friend is someone who is not afraid to tell you that you might not be doing something right. A friend helps you when you make mistakes,” Tressel said.
The next area Tressel focused on, as suggested by a student, was academics.
“You need to be the best students you can be. The rigors of taking all the subjects you don’t like is training on how to get through difficult situations. In life, there will always be things you don’t want to do. You will need to move out of your comfort zone, and this will help you do that. It doesn’t mean it will be fun, but you had to get through it to become as good as you are capable of getting. People who succeed do things failures don’t like to do,” Tressel told the students.
The last area Tressel covered with the students was football family.
“It’s team first, with individual goals. There is a science to working together as a team. Everyone needs teams - businesses, hospitals and even homes. The individual is not as important as the team. This is the base/foundation of the Block O,” Tressel said.
Tressel gave the students more life advice based on the Block O.
“Take the Block O and use the five areas we talked about today and then figure out what it is you want to do - that is your base/foundation. The first five areas are for all of us, while the last area is for your particular interest,” Tressel said.
To end his presentation, Tressel thanked the students for inviting him to speak to them about “The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life.”
“Thank you for having me. I love talking about how we can become the best we can be,” Tressel said.