Life is simple when you are 9 years old. My entire existence as a young boy revolved around playing baseball. I truly believed that when I grew up I was going to play third base for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Oh how times have changed. My arm does not have the snap it used to, my bat speed has declined significantly and my once butter-soft hands are becoming more and more stone-like with each passing year. I haven’t played competitive baseball in almost eight years and have long since given up on my boyhood dream of being a star in the Major Leagues.
I have a new dream now. I want to ski in the Olympic Winter Games. I want to climb to the top of my sport at the international level. I want to be the best at what I do. I started dreaming this dream soon after I began to have success as a young ski racer in Canada and have been chasing it ever since. Somewhere along the way however, I realized that just to dream is not enough. At some point dreams must develop into beliefs and beliefs must in turn evolve into expectations. Dreams are great things when one is asleep however, if I am to rise to the pinnacle of my sport I must begin to sincerely believe that it is possible. I must truly expect success. Failure cannot even be considered as an option.
As I am only in my second year as a “full-time” athlete, having delayed said status to obtain a four-year university degree; I am still learning what it takes to be able to the best at the top level of my sport. While training and god-given ability obviously attribute greatly to success on the international stage, I am beginning to see that the best skiers in the world are thus because they truly believe, truly expect to win.
My experience this year as part of a tightly knit National Team fortifies my confidence on a daily basis. Every day I am challenged. Every day I am pushed to new limits by my teammates. Every day I believe a little bit more. My goal of greatness on the international skiing stage is no longer built upon a rickety scaffold consisting of hopes and dreams but rather on a solid foundation of hard work, expectation of success and belief in my ability. I give my teammates and coaching staff much of the credit for this recent epiphany. Together we believe that great things are possible in Canadian skiing and are no longer willing to settle for middle of the pack results.
I do not know what suddenly changed in my head to make me think that great things are truly possible and I do not care. I do know that I am a different athlete this year. I carry myself with a more confident aura, I train more aggressively and I expect to be competitive each time I put on a bib. The main difference between this year and years past is that I now know that greatness is achievable and that real success it is no longer a distant pipe dream. I have finally found the needle of belief in the haystack of uncertainty. Special things are happening in the Canadian cross-country ski system and I am glad that I am a part of it.
While my dreams have changed significantly over the past fifteen years, from my days as a young ball player hoping to make the Bigs to my current position as an athlete seeking out a spot in the next Winter Olympics, my goals are, in many ways, much the same as they ever were. While I am now 24 years old, I have recently reacquired the childlike outlook that anything is possible. Just as I truly believed, as a 9 year old, that I was going to win the World Series someday, I now truly believe that my teammates and I are capable of reaching our goals on the ski trails. In the end, believing is all that matters.
Batter Up...
Adam Kates
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Source: Cross Country Canada
