No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own efforts.
I learned this lesson from a（n）1many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a2football program.
It was a tradition for the school's old team to play3the new team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn't even practice to prepare for the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited4I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we failed. I couldn't believe I had got into5 a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to 6 that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were 7me. I had to change my attitude about their ability and potential （潜力）.
I started doing anything I could to help them build a little8. Most importantly, I began to treat them like9. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their10 , we met every day and practiced passing and kicking the football.
Six months after suffering our failure on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to11. Finally, we faced the number one team on the field. I felt that it would be a victory for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn't what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me the greatest 12of my life!
From the experience I learnt a lot about 13 the attitude of the leader can influence the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and 14 them. I helped them to see themselves 15, and they built themselves into winners.
Winners are made, not born.
