Motivational Sports Quotes


I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed
–Michael Jordan.

“Many … have tremendous God-given gifts, but they don’t focus on the development of those gifts. Who are these individuals?
You’ve never heard of them– and you never will .”
-John Wooden

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
–Theodore Roosevelt

The strength of the group is the strength of the leaders.
— Vince Lombardi

If you are going to be a champion, you must be willing to pay a greater price.
— Bud Wilkinson

You can motivate players better with kind words than you can with a whip.
— Bud Wilkinson

It ain’t what you eat but how you chew it.
— Delbert McClinton

The Six W’s: Work will win when wishing won’t.
— Todd Blackledge

If you sacrifice early, you’ll win late.
— Charles Haley

The difference between failure and success is doing a thing nearly right and doing it exactly right.
— Edward C. Simmons

The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
— Vince Lombardi

You can’t make a great play unless you do it first in practice.
— Chuck Noll

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.
— Satchel Paige

Things that hurt, instruct.
— Benjamin Franklin

It isn’t hard to be good from time to time insports. What is tough, is being good every day.
— Willie Mays

There is no room in your mind for negative thoughts. The busier you keep yourself with the particulars of shot assessment and execution, the less chance your mind has to dwell on the emotional. This is sheer intensity.
— Jack Nicklaus

In the end, the game comes down to one thing: man against man. May the best man win.
— Sam Huff

When they treat you bad, you just got to take care of your pride, no matter what.
— Satchel Paige

I celebrate a victory when I start walking off the field. By the time I get to the locker room, I’m done.
— Tom Osborne

You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.
— Arthur Ashe

Victory belongs to the most persevering.
— Napoleon

Commitment to the team – there is no such thing as in-between, you are either in our out.
— Pat Riley

I have seen that in any great undertaking, it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself.
— Lone Man

The main ingredient in stardom is the rest of the team.
— Source Unknown

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.
— Calvin Coolidige

The one man team is a complete and total myth.
— Don Shula

One finger cannot lift a pebble.
— Hopi Saying

Team guts always beat individual greatness.
— Bob Zuppke

Anyone can support a team that is winning – it takes no courage. But to stand behind a team to defend a team when it is down and really needs you, that takes a lot of courage.
— Bart Starr

First we will be Best, then we will be First.

‘The more I practice the luckier I get’

–Garry Player, South African golfer

Pursuit of Excellence ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act….. But a habit’.

–Terry Orlick

‘I never drop a player I only make changes.

–Bill Shankly

Fail to prepare “prepare to fail

Whether You Believe You Can or You Can’t “ You’re Right!’

–Henry Ford)

A boy comes to me with a spark of interest. I feed the spark and it becomes a flame. I feed the flame and it becomes a fire. I feed the fire and it becomes a roaring blaze.’ (Legendary boxing coach Cus D’amato)

Always play a game with somebody, never against them. Always win a game, never beat an opponent’.

The coach’s job is twenty percent technical and training, and eighty per cent inspirational. He may know all there is to know about tactics, technique and training, but if he cannot win the confidence and comradeship of his pupils he will never be a good coach’.

–Franz Stampfl, coach

There is no bad coaching only bad coaches!

‘Success is important but defeats are valuable

Good players without a good coach make a mediocre team.

To play the game is great to win the game is greater But to love the game is the greatest of all.

–Plaque in lobby of Philadelphia Palestra

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Act as though it were impossible to fail.

–Dorthea Brandt