Somewhere around bored oclock during the third Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Wellington in March 2012, after Kane Williamson had been struck on the shoulder, the arm and the box, but before he raised his bat to a match-saving century, one member of the media pack, who had spent lunchtime imbibing in a sponsors box, spoke the most memorable sentence of the tour.That guy, our colleague with a voice that scratched like sandpaper said. Hes gonna be a great player.The rest of us shot each other sideways glances of bemusement. The local journalists had seen Williamson score a century on debut, and not much after then. The foreign ones, myself included, were impressed by his stoicism against a fiery South African attack, but we didnt think he was that good. If anyone knew that Williamson had 40 hundreds to his name by the time he left school, they didnt say so. Instead, some of us rolled our eyes, others giggled under their breath, and even when Williamson saw out the draw, we were far from convinced.Williamsons century was not enough to earn him the Man-of-the-Match award - that went to Morne Morkel - so our only interaction with him was the next day, at the airport. Some of us from the press corps had a brief chat with him and he wished us well on our travels. We concluded that he was a nice kid, soft-spoken and thoughtful, but we still didnt see any signs of greatness.When the South Africans next encountered Williamson - in a Test series in early 2013 - nothing about New Zealand seemed great. They lost both matches by margins of more than an innings and appeared completely out of their depth.Things started to change towards the end of the trip, when they redeemed themselves, and Williamson was responsible for it. He struck an unbeaten 145 in the second ODI, in Kimberley, to give New Zealand a first series win in any format in South Africa. Williamsons innings was an aggressive but polished display that combined his ability to punish anything overpitched and to play spin. Suddenly the phrase great player did not seem too much of a leap.At the time, Brendon McCullum called Williamsons and the teams achievement phenomenal, and said Williamsons innings was as good as weve seen from a New Zealander. No one knew it then but that tour would also be the catalyst for a complete change in New Zealand cricket.In the two years that followed, they went from being a fractured group that was unable to settle on a captain after Ross Taylor was sacked, or command respect for the coach (one of the few on the circuit who had not played professional cricket at any level), to a united outfit. They stole hearts and put smiles on faces during their magical run to the final of the 2015 World Cup, in a campaign defined by the power of dreaming big and having fun.Central to all that was Williamson. Although he operated mostly in McCullums shadow, he racked up runs in series wins over India and West Indies, and in a closely contested drawn outing against Pakistan in the UAE. He scored carefully in Tests and quickly in shorter formats, and quietly climbed the batting rankings.These days he sits second on the Test rankings, fourth on the ODI charts and sixth in T20s. It is believed that he will finish as New Zealands best batsman ever.If he can translate that potential into his other job - leadership - he may be their most successful cricketer. Thats a lot of expectation for a 25-year-old to carry, especially as he only sits on the eve of his captaincy debut, but those who know Williamson dont think its too much for him to handle.He is very mature and does not let much faze him, Jason Gillespie, Williamsons coach at Yorkshire, told ESPNcricinfo. He has the right personality and temperament to lead New Zealand in all formats. It is the right time for Kane to make the step, and I have no doubt he will be a very good captain.Although Williamson did not captain at the county, Gillespie has seen in him all the qualities to do the job. The one that stands out is a willingness to learn. He has his own thoughts on the game, yet will be a very inclusive captain and be open to suggestions and feedback. He will find that right balance between being one of the lads and the leader, Gillespie said. What he will do well is take on board advice, suggestions and feedback, but no one will be left in any doubt who is in charge. He communicates very well, from what I have seen at Yorkshire in his time with us.Williamson has the advantage of having inherited from McCullum a team on the up, with an ingrained culture that does not need much tweaking. Brendon is someone Kane has and will continue to look up to and seek advice from, Gillespie said. They are really good mates and I see Kane simply looking to build on to the culture that New Zealand cricket already have.Already Williamson has spoken about how McCullums ideology of smart cricket will serve him on his first assignment, which will be tricky if only because it presents so much of the unexpected. New Zealand have not toured Zimbabwe for a Test series in five years, and even then it was only for a one-off Test. Bulawayo has not hosted any Test cricket since then, so no one really knows what to expect from the conditions except that they are likely to be slow and low and favour a more old-fashioned style of play than what we have become used to in recent years.The strength of the opposition aside, New Zealand will want to get the better of the conditions. We are looking to play smart all the time, as the team did under Brendon, who was obviously fantastic and weve all learnt so much playing under him, Williamson said. We are looking to be aggressive but at the same time skinning it. In certain countries you do it differently. Then they move on to South Africa, the scene of that embarrassing display early in 2013. This time, though, New Zealand could even consider themselves favourites. They are ranked fifth, a place above South Africa in Tests, and will have game time under their belts, unlike the hosts, who have not played a Test since January. The Zimbabwe experience will also ensure New Zealand are better equipped for early-season conditions in South Africa. All things considered, Williamson could eye this as a chance to claim a massive scalp early in his tenure and he knows it.Theres so many opportunities that lie ahead. For us as a team, its very much about the next game and the next series and we are looking to continually improve as a team. We know if we are doing that, we will be playing better cricket, he said.But with everything Williamson has to look forward to, he will undoubtedly also meet some obstacles along the way, chiefly around the structuring of his own schedule. Kanes biggest challenge is to find that cricket-life balance, Gillespie said. He is captain in all three formats of the game, and of a country that travels more than any other, in part due to their geographical location. New Zealand have a heavy itinerary over the next period.The life of a modern cricketer is fantastic - lots of options and opportunity. However, we have to remember that first and foremost they are people, and while it can be a glamorous lifestyle with lots of perks, at the end of the day everyone needs a recharge every now and again.Williamson seems to understand how to separate work from his personal life. He does not have a Twitter or Instagram account, which allows him a degree of privacy. He has also showed an awareness of the importance of time out. He asked to sit out a first-class match for Yorkshire, citing mental fatigue, which could also have been related to his form. Williamson scored just 42 runs from four first-class innings before taking a break. He has since declared himself ready for the African adventure and the chance to become the great player someone once predicted he would be.
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Hydro Flask Standard Mouth Sports Cap . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. The recent womens Olympic marathon trials finish in Los Angeles was both frustrating and inspiring for me. The event was nationally broadcast live for the first time, so we could witness the front of the pack gutting out the last four miles -- including Amy Cragg desperately pulling along her fading friend and teammate, Shalane Flanagan, grabbing water for her, slowing her own pace and encouraging Flanagan with words we couldnt hear. Even after shed left Flanagan, Cragg continued looking back to encourage her. Like many watching, I was inspired by Craggs selflessness and sportsmanship.Cragg won the race and Flanagan finished third, ensuring both will compete in the 2016 Rio Games. The finish-line shot of Cragg catching Flanagan in her arms as her legs collapsed brought tears to my eyes as I remembered how many women have helped me through races and workouts and how many have caught me at the finish line. But I also couldnt help wondering, Would a man work so hard to pull along a teammate?I could hear my fathers frustrated voice in my head, speaking to me after a high school cross country race in which Id admitted to feeling guilty for beating a friend. Why?! hed exclaimed, baffled. Dont wait. Its your race. Dont think twice next time. Just pass her.Athletic marketers might argue women-only races have increased in popularity because they offer an empowering environment. But I think competing against women can create more stress -- especially when youre competing against women you consider friends. Ive found through both racing and coaching others that women feel (or are made to feel) guilty after leaving a female friend behind in a race. On multiple occasions Ive stood with friends on starting lines negotiating whether or not to run separately.For years as a running and triathlon coach, competitive athlete and linguist, I have struggled with a perceived conflict over how competitive drive and female friendship can safely coexist. I was struck when a friend and former Division I runner recalled her college coach saying to her, Some days I think all I have to do is to get you girls to hate each other and then youll run faster. While, sadly, this may be half true, surely there are healthier ways to develop a successful team. That, combined with my feelings about the marathon trials, made me want to better understand the dynamics of female friends in competition.My friend, my competitorWomen are taught from a young age to help, cooperate with and be empathetic of others. When I was 4 years old, I learned that being bossy was wrong. Then, 10 years later, I was expected to be a boss on the field, taking control and beating my female friends on the track. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in her keynote speech at the 2006 WNBA Celebrating Inspiration event, said, There is a special place in hell for women who dont help other women. But how do you help someone if you are trying to beat her?I think women have to be confident in their own?failures and?successes in order for friendships to exist outside of?competition, says Erica Allar, 30, a pro cyclist from North Carolina. They have to understand that failures and successes in?competition do not define individuals as a person or define a friendship.I didnt understand this as a high school runner. Whether my friends liked me or not heavily influenced my performance -- not the reverse. On more than one occasion I hesitated passing a teammate in a race, fearful that girl might hold it against me, which would create a rift in our friendship at school.When I began running cross country my freshman year, I consistently ran with one sophomore girl during the 5k and then outkicked her at the end of each race. During one race, sensing my desire to pick up the pace, she instructed me, Not yet, Amanda. Dont go yet. I hesitated for a moment, then I heard my fathers voice insisting, What are you waiting for?! I ran ahead. Later, I heard shed passed out on the course and had to be driven by ambulance to the hospital. I felt horribly guilty. Over the next two years competing with her, I never beat her again. And I never tried.Fearing this response to competition could seep into other areas of my life, my father sent me to a sports psychologist. He helped me address the negative self-talk that was destroying me before I toed the line.When I began coaching cross country and track at DePauw University, my father gave me a book hed read when I was in high school, Games Girls Play: Understanding Young Female Athletes in Competition. The book describes a study of 115 professional tennis players, in which females were reported to be more affected than males by self-confidence and fan behavior.Road and mountain runner Melody Fairchild, a two-time Olympic trials qualifier and eight-time national champion, sees that in the performance of young women on the high school cross country teams and camps she coaches.Their identity is so tightly wrapped up in how others see them that they let that get in the way of performing their best, says Fairchild, 42, who was the first high school girl in the U.dddddddddddd.S. to break 10 minutes for two miles. My running was a pure expression of living with heart. And Im still wildly curious to figure out that magic key to help these young, altruistic women find a way to feel comfortable giving the best of themselves.A delicate balanceThe difficulty in balancing friendship and performance is something Sara Kadlec, 31, can attest to in her own training. If I feel better than expected at a workout I had planned to do with a friend, I wouldnt think of leaving her or running ahead. Id stay within the controlled pace we had planned to run. But when Ive discussed this with men, they think this is absolutely absurd. Its a workout, theyll say, youre supposed to go hard.Holding back is not something one would associate with Kadlec:?Shes a new mother, physicians assistant in neurosurgery, national podium-placing ski mountaineer and sub-three-hour marathoner. And yet, its something she might do in a workout to preserve harmony with a friend.When developing intimacy and maintaining a level playing field are traits young girls learn early, how do adult women separate competition from friendship? For me, it was about learning how to separate myself as a competitor from myself as a friend -- a skill that took me years to master.I wish at 15 years old I could have compartmentalized my relationships with competitors like pro mountain biker and college professor Becky Edmiston, who says in a race she encounters three groups of people: Women I dont know and I want to beat, women I know (whose friendship I value) and I want to beat, and women that rub me the wrong way and I want to beat.Edmiston says she trains with and encourages her friends. If I find myself passing a friend I might tell them to come with me. But Im not waiting around for them.Pam Landry, a sports psychologist and coach at The Athletes Edge in New Haven, Connecticut, finds herself working with many female athletes who struggle to balance friendship and competition. She says complications can arise when feeling guilty is associated with caring -- an association many women have been taught to make. The underlying implication behind this logic is that in order to be a good person or friend, Landry says, you must show you care by feeling guilty and then prove it by conforming to the perceived needs of those around you.Landry asks her athletes to rewrite the script in their head by asking themselves, What am I afraid of when I run faster or improve more than my friends? Disapproval from others or myself? Fear of failure or success?Another way to remain objective during competition is to tell yourself, No judgment, just execution. Landry says. Once this cue becomes an automatic pre-competitive response it helps the athlete to avoid letting feelings of friendship for their fellow competitors override their competitive drive.The goal is to teach the athlete that being the better performer does not make you the lesser person. It simply means that youre actively pursuing excellence.What Ive learnedCommunicating your goals before a race can help maintain a friendship, says coach and researcher Joanna Zeiger, who finished fourth in the triathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I ran the 2013 L.A. Marathon with [close friend and training partner] Colleen De Reuck. At Mile 17, I knew I was fading. Rather than let her wonder if she should wait or go, I told her I was struggling and that I would see her at the finish line.Ive adopted that policy of communication in my own friendships with fellow athletes as Ive grown. Recently, at the start of a long run with a group of friends, a very talented and competitive woman in her 30s said, Im feeling slow today. Dont wait up for me. I could tell she wasnt feeling 100 percent, but her silent treatment when she returned from the run, after trailing us the whole way, made it clear she had expected us to, indeed, wait up for her. I didnt feel guilty this time. I reminded her of what shed said and she accepted some responsibility. After eight years of training together, this was an overdue step in the right direction for our friendship and success as athletes.Healthy friendships and competition can coexist in the presence of confidence, honesty and direct communication. These are the traits that made for such a compelling finish to the marathon trials, and theyre what will make me root for Shalane Flanagan and Amy Cragg even harder at the Rio Olympics.Amanda McCracken is a Boulder-based writer, runner, and coach. She is grateful for all of her female friendships that have grown out of the fields of competition. Follow her on Twitter at?@writermccracken.
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