Your circumstances do not define you, the energy and commitment you put in do. How do you define best? Who is the best player on your team? Is it the player that scores the most goals? Or is it the player that never gets beat on defense?
To me, the best player is the one that never quits. The player that plays to the final whistle no matter what the score or situation. The player that works harder than everyone else in practice regardless of what their roll is on the team. The player that makes everyone around them work harder and brings out the best in everyone on the team. To me, that is the best player on the team.
I say this because to me this is the player that will continually get better. This is the player that will force those around them to get better. If this is a back up or reserve player their will and motivation will force the starters to work harder to keep their starting position. If this is a starter it will motivate everyone else to keep up.
Players can become stronger and faster. Skills can be learned and developed. But pure will, motivation and dedication, that comes from within. A player that isn’t motivated to work or become better won’t give you everything they have. But a highly motivated player will give everything they have and then some no matter the situation.
These are the players that keep a team going. Keep a team motivated. Keep a team driven. They provide the spark that is needed when a game isn’t going the way you want it to, or they keep the pressure on when it is going your way, because they know that it only takes a second for a game to change drastically.
So my question to you is what are your circumstances? What is your roll on the team? What kind of energy and commitment are you bringing to practice and the games? Are you working outside of practice?
So ask yourself, when things get tough are you going to roll over and give up? Are you going to stop trying because it isn’t worth the energy or time? Or are you going to keep fighting?