Olympic Spirit - Ann Meyers Drysdale

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Gateway to the Summer Games - Olympic Spirit

What does it take to be an Olympian? Read incredible stories of the challenges, successes, and lessons learned by famous Olympians on their way to becoming champions. Then discover how you can spark the "Olympic spirit" in you to achieve your goals and reach your dreams.

Capture the Olympic Spirit
Ann Meyers Drysdale

Ann Meyers Drysdale led her team to the silver medal in the very first Olympic women's basketball medal competition. She was the first female full-scholarship athlete at UCLA, the first four-year, college All-American basketball player (man or woman!). Ann was the first team athlete inducted into the Women's Sports Hall of Fame, and she was the first woman to sign a NBA contract! Yet she was the consummate team player.

Griffin Publishing Group


		Profile \| Spirit in YOU! More Athletes

Profile
When the NBA Indiana Pacers offered Ann a contract, she faced a dilemma: "the chance to see exactly how good I was."

"Winning is not the only way to measure success. I was going to get the chance to be measured against the best. A loss is not what's embarrassing. What is embarrassing is to play poorly, below our capabilities. I can honestly say that my Olympic silver medal, just like my tryout with an NBA team, does not represent failure, but rather my success to the highest degree."

"I tested myself against the best the sport has to offer and I learned a lot about teamwork and the components that make a successful team, specifically:

Learn your skills well,

Learn the needs of the other players,

Adjust your game to complement the team,

Support the team emotionally,

Rejoice and suffer together,

Pick the right people for the right reasons,

Share authority along with responsibility,

Have pride in your team,

To be the best, be measured against the best."

The Olympic Spirit in YOU!
Being part of a team is a part of our lives everyday. The team may be a sports team, a club, a church group, a community group, a class project group, a work group, or an activity group. Working together is important to the success of any project that involves more than one person. Use the following exercise for all the members in your group or team.

For each of Ann Meyers Drysdale's nine components for a successful team, list three things you can do to help increase the spirit and effectiveness of your team or group.

Share with each other those things that each person can contribute to help the team.

Each time the team or group is together or does a project together, share what each person did to contribute to the success or to improve the outcome that the team or group accomplished.

More Athletes

Ann Meyers Drysdale

Bart Conner

Billy Mills

Baron Pierre de Coubertin

Gail Devers

Greg Barton

Henry Marsh

John Naber

Karch Kiraly

Mary Lou Retton

Matt Ghaffari

Milt Campbell

Nadia Comaneci

Nancy Hogshead

Paul Gonzales

Terry Schroeder

For more great stories about Olympians, ask your librarian for books about Olympic spirit, including Awaken the Olympian Within complied by John Naber, and The Olympic Dream and Spirit, Vol. 1, 2, and 3, with Bob Schaller.