High school junior Hannon Eberts has drive, heart, speed, love for the game and talent. Hannon plays soccer. She started in kindergarten.

Unlike many serious soccer players, Hannon also plays another sport. She runs track. The fact that she holds the record for her school’s 400 probably wouldn’t surprise many of her soccer opponents. Hannon is known for her speed along with an uncanny ability to score with headers and kicks while airborne.

Following her freshman year, soccer success became more important to Hannon. She didn’t like the sectional finals that year—a loss on post-overtime penalty kicks. When her team met that same opponent this past postseason, Hannon said the girls had just one goal—to win.

The underdog status through much of the postseason became fuel for Hannon and her teammates. She said they needed to step up as a team for every game. They did and won the championship.

“We put so much hard work into winning,” said Hannon when it was over. “When you get the reward of winning, it’s incredible.”

That winning attitude also goes beyond the field. Hannon’s classroom IQ mirrors her game intelligence. A math lover, she wants to study either engineering or physical therapy in college. Of course, she also wants to continue to play the game she loves.

Jim

Karen and Ellie Seid always are busy. The twin sisters are high school A-students already set to attend Ivy League schools. They also are high-level musicians. Ellie is a violinist and Karen plays the flute.

They also happen to be two of the best field hockey players in New York. They help each other all the time on the field and support each other with such off-the-field matters as homework, music, boys and every day teenage life.

Ellie had 34 goals and 31 assist as a center-forward this season. Karen scored 29 goals and had 20 assists playing left-forward and center midfield. They ended their high school sports careers first and second, respectively, in total points for the program. Ellie had 141 and Karen totaled 109.

This past season, the twins had a number of highlight games. Possibly the most memorable, aside from capturing the state title, was Karen’s six-goal game that set a team record and tied the state record. In the same game, Ellie had a goal and five assists.

Also in that game, Karen won a scholar-athlete of the week award for excellence on the field and in the classroom. Ellie had won the same award a year earlier.

Originally soccer players, the girls tried field hockey during seventh grade. They then took a risk, leaving a familiar sport for another game that required a steep learning curve. It was a decision they made together. Since then, they repeatedly have said it was the best decision.

By the end of sophomore year, the sisters started to hear from college programs. Ivy League schools (Karen committed to the University of Pennsylvania and Ellie committed to Brown University) seem to be a natural fit for both of them. Ivy League schools are the dream schools, according to the girls, who set the bar high and made sure that they achieved their scholastic and athletic goals.

As the transition began for their next chapter in life, Ellie and Karen also had to agree on another important matter—their parents’ loyalty when the girls play against each other in college later this year. Karen and Ellie revealed that mom will wear a Brown hat and a Penn sweatshirt and dad will wear a Penn hat and a Brown sweatshirt. No doubt the twins are convinced that this was the best decision.

Jim

We often don’t really know much about someone until they are gone. That’s when we hear the remembrance stories that explain a life of shortcomings followed by successes, commitment and innovation. Like me, you probably never heard about Allen Rosenberg. I only learned about him recently from his published obituary.

Allen started as a coxswain during the 1950s and then he became a coach. His innovations in rowing technique helped produce Olympic and world champions.

At five feet and one inch in height, Allen never weighed much more than 100 pounds. He was described by fans as a half-pint in a world dominated by gallon jugs. But, this did not stop him from mentoring athletes who were twice his size and, during a couple of decades, spurring them to victory in international competitions with his intellect and shrewd motivational skills.

“I can’t possibly explain the difference between the silver and the gold,’ he once said to his rowers, “but if you win the silver, you’ll wake up the next morning and know that someone rowed a better race than you, and I don’t want you to go through life thinking of that.”

By profession, Allen Rosenberg was a lawyer and pharmacist. He relied on his learning skills to help transform rowing from pure brute strength into a blend of science and sport. He actually studied the ways to make a boat move, learning that there was more to it than simply using an oar and frantically pushing the water. He spoke more about lightness of hands, plus relaxing and balancing in the recovery part of the stroke. He concentrated on a long pull in the water, quiet and even. The less water disturbed, he figured, the faster the boat will travel.

Allen’s successes are numerous, including a 1964 gold medal as a U.S. Olympic coach in Tokyo. He even developed a successful rowing style, teaching rowers to fire their muscle groups in a rotation rather than all at one time. The technique became known as the Rosenberg style, and he often compared it to a group of men who attempted to move a boulder.

Rather than exhorting a great heave, Allen contended it was better to use muscle groups in sequence—first legs, then shoulders, backs and then arms—because the solution was not to budge the boulder but to keep it rolling as smoothly as possible.

That’s how I see things in business. It’s not the heavy lifting that is important. It is the Rosenberg technique that maintains momentum and ensures the ride to success remains smooth.

Jim