For nearly 30 years, Betsy King spent the majority of her time on the golf course. In most people’s opinion—whether sports analysts or average fans—she did some pretty significant things in a career that resulted in 34 LPGA Tour event titles, 6 major championships, and inductions into the World Golf Hall of Fame (1995) and the LPGA Hall of Fame (2000).

Yet while King was racking up every accolade available within the realm of professional women’s golf, a nagging doubt lingered about the importance of her role as an athlete and what life after sports might look like. Those thoughts were intensified after she read the book Half Time: Changing Your Game Plan from Success to Significance by Bob Buford.

Hockey Chat:  There are many players who are great in there own mind.  They lead the team in ice time because they won’t line change.  They lead the team in goals but have zero assists.  They don’t have any penalty minutes because they never bother to play defense.

Hockey Chat:  We’ve all had the dreams of playing in the big leagues at sometime in our lives.  For most of us, we’ve taken a different road in life but we are still grateful to be skating.  So what if we never made it.  We still love the game and enjoy playing it.

When I played college football, our coach insisted that we wear our helmets from the moment we left the locker room until the end of the game. We were only allowed to remove our helmets during half-time while in the locker room. He was adamant that our helmets stay on during the course of the game. I always complied, but thought this demand was a little excessive. Everyone understands the merits of wearing a helmet during competition, but few would understand the necessity of wearing one otherwise.

If you have been on a team, chances are you’ve heard the phrases “Be a leader,” and “This team needs leadership!” Statements like those constantly remind us as players to work hard, demonstrate integrity, and display a model of intensity for other players.