Help Me Build An Athlete who will be strong enough to know when she is weak and brave enough to face herself when she is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat and humble and gentle in victory.

Help Me Build An Athlete whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be, an athlete who will know You and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge. Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storms; here let him learn compassion for those who fall.

Help Me Build An Athlete whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; an athlete who will master herself before she seeks to master others; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future yet never forget the past. And after all these things are hers, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, never to take herself too seriously. Give her humility, so that she may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength.