With the first week of practice done for high school sports, volleyball teams are gearing up for games next week and football players start strapping on pads.
A team needs an identity before competition against other teams begins. One tool some coaches use to build that are team mottos.
This group of words usually is meant to go beyond just the field of play. They are usually words athletes can live by in their day-to-day even away from sports.
Sometimes mottos are created in the offseason, repeated every time the team breaks out, or is worked into every team speech a coach gives until everyone on the team believes it through repetition. They usually go right under the school name on the team T-shirt.
The Bowie volleyball team is hoping some of the magic of last year’s team that went undefeated in district play and made it to the regional quarterfinals can be recaptured as Coach Breanna Jones is sticking with the motto of “mindset.”
Besides being a volleyball pun, the word is also what she wants her team to focus on since volleyball is so much of a mental game in terms of attitude. If a couple of players start to get frustrated with errors piling up, that can quickly spiral to everyone and result in losing a set.
Nocona volleyball Coach Tanya Samples said her team’s motto is, “Strong to the Finish.”
“With all of the adversity we may face this season with all the changes, we will be strong to the finish,” Samples said.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.