My Husband John took me to my first 49ers game last week. He has been an avid supporter all his life and hasn’t had a lot to cheer about since the great teams of the 80′s. However since the appointment of head coach Jim Harbaugh at the start of the year, all that seems to have changed. At 3-1 there was a definite sense of optimism at ‘the stick’ as a little under 65,000 people crowded into the stadium. Looking at the NFL Schedule (the official refrigerator magnet schedule!) I say that they faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were also doing pretty well. It was going to be a tough match.

As I took my seat it struck me that for the next 2-3 hours 65,000 expectant fans would be watching the every move of just 22 players and I wondered what it really takes to be a professional athlete and to be on top of your game.

Oh, I guess at this point I’d better introduce myself. My name is L’esa Guilian and I am a professional career coach. In essence I help people find suitable jobs and careers. Anyway… you know when you’re about six or seven and the teacher always asks you what you want to be when you grow up…most boys will say something like a fire fighter, or a pilot, or a football pro. Well these guys on the field have probably had this burning ambition since they were that age, and more importantly they have succeeded where thousands of others have failed.

So it got me thinking…… given their short career spell (on average just 6 years) what does it take to make it, and what gives them the drive and ambition to succeed?

In any sport, you have to love what you do…actually it kind of becomes a way of life and those fantastic rewards that it can give you such as money, notoriety and fame are really secondary to the ‘love of competing’. The issue is that when these potential superstars begin on their chosen career paths at the tender age of say.. six or seven, they are thrust into a competitive world. This is a world where it is instilled into them that it simply isn’t enough to be ‘good’. Instead the child is looked upon to continually dominate and triumph over others. I guess that you could argue that it doesn’t have to be this way, but without this competitive edge, the child simply won’t get there.

The sacrifices that budding professional athletes make along the way are also huge. When all their buddies are out doing what guys or girls do, they are probably into a never ending cycle of training and fitness  They can’t go to the movies because they’ve got training or they can’t have a Big Mac and fries because they are on a special diet  Training regimes can be tough and can involve endless work outs before and after school. This means that there is no real time to hang out with friends.

For those that do make it, and we are talking around 0.02% of all people who dream of becoming a professional athlete, the journey has undoubtedly been a long hard slog. These are the chosen few, the ‘crème de la crème’ and now they have their chance in the spotlight.

So when I look at these 22 players taking the field, I don’t just see a bunch of football players, instead I see a group of young men who have triumphed over adversity to get to where they are today. The experience has given them an arsenal of life skills including steely determination and discipline which will stand them in good stead for whatever the future may throw at them.

Oh, and if you were wandering what the final score was…the 49ers won 48-3. They have had their best start to a season since 1998 and what’s more,  it put a beaming smile on John’s face.