Canons' new values

Canon's new values

Late last year a small group of students were invited to create a set of values specific to sport at St Norbert College. The aim was to create a set of standards and expectations when representing the College - and the Canons brand - in sport. Commitment, culture, excellence, expectations and attitude were all words thrown around at our lunchtime workshop sessions but the overriding questions were:

1. What did it mean to be a Canon?
2. How do we put this in writing?
3. How do we put this into practice?

 It was important that the project was student driven - as staff, we wanted the students to tell us what they stand for. Using the existing College values of Community, Respect, Friendship, Commitment, Adaptability and Heritage as our starting point, we are proud to present the “Canons Guide to Success”, displayed on two banners now proudly hanging in the ORC to guide us.

Community: “With us, or against us”

There is no ‘I’ in team and there is no team unless everyone works together. A sporting team requires all players and coaches to be on the same page, working in harmony towards the same goal. As soon as one person places their own agenda above the team, the job becomes harder for everyone. Success is a team sport.

Respect: “Give it to get it”

Part of our Catholic duty is to show unconditional respect to everyone at all times, but, of course, respect is a two-way street. If we demand or expect respect from someone, we should be prepared to show respect in return. Respect your team by putting in 100%, respect your coaches by believing that strategies are made with the whole team in mind, respect the officials by accepting their decisions, respecting our opposition by preparing and playing to a high standard and most importantly, respecting ourselves by putting in the effort.

Friendship: “Powerful as one”

Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you. The hard times are easier and success tastes even sweeter when it’s with your friends. Competing in sports is a lot more fun when it’s done with friends, sport is a great way to build life-long friendships. Together we are smarter, together we are better, together we are more powerful. 

Commitment: “Hard work beats talent”

NBA player James Harden was recently asked how he became to be the player with most 50+ point games in NBA history, he answered with one word: WORK. Work is the difference between where you are now and where you want to be. You may be blessed with natural talent but what you do with that talent is entirely your decision. Do you rest on your laurels, or do you continue to set the bar higher? Do you run that extra lap, do you take those extra practice shots, do you bounce out of bed or do you hit the snooze button? Are you prepared for all good works? Remember, that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

Adaptability: “No comfort zones”

Get comfortable being uncomfortable. The number one reason for people not stepping out of their comfort zone to try something new is the fear of failure. So, let’s embrace failure as an opportunity to find out what we do and don’t know, what does and doesn’t work, what we do and don’t need to work on. The body’s response to being put under exercise induced stress is to get stronger, and as a team, we become stronger by discovering our weaknesses. Instead of focusing on the negative, see it as an opportunity to get better.

Heritage: “Leave your legacy”

By the time our six years at the College are finished, we hope that we can answer the question “what does it mean to be a Canon?” Did we run that extra lap? Did we take those extra practice shots? Did we give it 110% every chance we had? How we act today will impact how people see and talk about us tomorrow. The aim for everyone that wears the Canons logo should be to leave it better than we found it. Whether that is through leadership, excellence, hard work, determination or success. Ask yourself; “How will people remember me?” If you’re happy with your reputation, then keep doing what you’re doing, but if not, you’ve got plenty of time to change it.

Thank you to all the students who gave up their time to work on this project and create these values. We hope that these values can be the foundation of a strong sporting culture at St Norbert College in 2020 and beyond.

Mr M Price (Head of Health & Physical Education)