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Address to the Nation

Address to the Nation: Team

From a sports perspective, we all know what makes a team. It’s anyone who puts on that jersey; it’s everyone that steps into that locker room. It’s everyone who comes together at the beginning of that season and says,“Hey, this is what we want to do.” We write down our goals, we want to be the top, we want to be the best, we want to win our conference. We know that team.

And that’s why I love sports because when you come together as a team, so much more can be accomplished. I don’t think there’s a better acronym than TEAM. Together Everyone Achieves More. Together. That’s what team’s about. It’s being surrounded by people who not only complement your strengths, but who also hide your weaknesses.

A team is the people around you, it’s the organisation, it’s your family. It’s anyone you do life with.

So, not only does a good team build your strengths – that means that you’re able to be you, you’re able to do what you do best, and you’re able to do it even better with them – but there’s also someone there that picks up the slack for your weakness. What you’re not good at, there’s someone else that’s good at it. That’s why we have positions, that’s why you have attackers, that’s why you have defenders, that’s why you have a goalie. Because we can’t all do everything.

And now we’re going to shift that to life. We can’t do everything. Trust me, from a person myself, I love to do everything. I have FOMO to the fullest, fear of missing out. I don’t want to miss out on an ounce of life, so I go at everything. I’m going fast, I’m going hard and sometimes I lack thought before going into a process, but that’s my strength.

My weakness is sitting back, preparing, looking at the process. To be honest I’m okay with that because I’m surrounded by people that help me with those things. From my NSA team, to my family, to my wife: everyone around me.

I’m good at charging through a wall. What I’m not good at is sitting down, making a plan and seeing it through. And so I know that I need to surround myself with people that can do that.

With a team, it’s always about what’s on the front, it’s always about what you’re trying to do. With a family it’s always about, what’s best for the family? What’s best for us together? For a business it’s what’s best for this business? Not for an individual and their career and where they can go, but for the business as a whole.

For a team, what is best for this team? Is it best for this team me being the star player? Or is it best for this team if I take a backseat, be a second, third-line player? See, that’s a hard pill to swallow, but once you put the team’s vision ahead of yours in anything, in anything, there’s nothing better. Because when you all have that single goal, when you all come together, when you’re all able to sacrifice what you want for what the team wants, or even better, when what you want is linear to what the team wants? That’s when magic happens.

I’ve been with some of the top hockey players in the world. I’ve played against Pat Kane, I’ve played against Sidney Crosby, I’ve played against Phil Kessel, I played with Pat Maroon. And I can tell you, some of the best players I’ve played with – they’re amazing. But the best teams I’ve played with are the teams that have had a single goal and everyone was moving towards that.

That’s when I’ve won national championships. That’s when I’ve won league titles. That’s when we enter different tournaments that are prestigious. Put yourself in a team that is willing to push. Put yourself on a team that is willing to sacrifice for the team’s goals. And be that team player.

Because it’s true. Together Everyone Achieves More.

And when we say everyone? Everyone. Coaches, management, fans. Everyone achieves more when the team does more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

— JFK

John knew that he wanted to play hockey from the age of four, and since then he's played in Juniors, Division 1 College, Professional hockey, and won 2 Goodall Cup Championships in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). When he's not playing hockey, he's teaching others how to play. As one of the founding members of the National Sport Academy (NSA), John's mission is to spread the sport of hockey across Australia, and provide elite training for those pursuing the game at the highest levels. John's drive, tenacity, and continual pursuit to 'Be Better' shines through in everything he sets out to do.

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