Monday Marlin Motivation
“¡Sí se puede!… Yes we can!”
If you’ve been here a while you know I’m a big Disney fan. And if you grew up watching Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs), there’s a good chance you’ve seen Gotta Kick It Up!. It’s a favorite! Watching it now I think how on earth did I believe that they were supposed to be 8th graders… But what I always go back to with this movie is their chant, “¡Sí se puede!… Yes we can!”. If you’ve never seen if (may I first recommend a Disney+ subscription?) it’s about how a group of girls who didn’t look like champions learned to believe they could become one. In this story it wasn’t just a catchy phrase – it became the mindset that changed everything.
As our basketball season gets underway, I’m hoping that phrase finds a home with our team too. Coach even put it on the back of our shirts.
This year’s Arnold Lady Marlins are young, but they aren’t inexperienced. We have talented players, coaches who believe in them, and an opportunity that our girls’ basketball program hasn’t always had. We genuinely believe this group has the tools to make a real run this season. But talent only takes you so far.
One of the four words we’ve chosen to define our season is tenacious.
Tenacious (adjective): Holding firmly to a purpose; persistent, determined, and unwilling to let go despite difficulty or opposition.
That’s the kind of team we hope to become. Not because we’ll win every game. But because no challenge, no mistake, no setback, and no obstacle will convince us to stop becoming the best version of ourselves.
Every team faces adversity. Missed shots. Tough losses. Injuries. Bad calls. Moments where quitting feels easier than pushing forward. The most successful teams aren’t always the most talented. They’re often the most tenacious.
For young athletes, especially young women today, that perseverance extends far beyond the basketball court. Social media constantly tells them they aren’t enough. Comparison steals confidence. Anxiety whispers that one mistake defines who they are.
The pressure to be perfect has become exhausting. Being mentally tough in today’s society is essential. Mental toughness isn’t pretending everything is okay. Mental toughness is choosing to keep going anyway. It is choosing discipline over excuses, courage over comfort, and perseverance over fear.
¡Sí se puede!… Yes we can.
Basketball eventually ends with a final buzzer, but life doesn’t. Sooner or later, every one of us hears voices trying to define our potential.
“You’re not smart enough.”
“You’re not pretty enough.”
“You’re too late.”
“You’re too poor.”
“Someone else is more talented.”
“You’ll never get past what happened to you.”
Or all the million other reasons the world tells you to quit. Sometimes those voices come from other people. Sometimes they come from our own minds. Sometimes they come from circumstances we never asked for. Life presents barriers that look different for everyone.
Some are physical. Some are emotional. Some are financial. Some are invisible to everyone except the person carrying them.
I’ve learned that lesson personally. Living with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome has forced me to accept that there are days when my heart has a hundred plans, but my body doesn’t have the strength for any of them. It’s frustrating. It can be discouraging. But it has also taught me something I may never have learned otherwise:
Our limitations do not have to become our identity.
Being tenacious doesn’t mean pretending obstacles don’t exist. It means refusing to let them define your ceiling. Progress is rarely fast and it’s NEVER linear. Sometimes perseverance looks like one more workout. One more application. One more doctor appointment. One more difficult conversation. One more prayer. One more day.
The people who accomplish extraordinary things aren’t usually the ones who never struggled. They’re the ones who simply refused to stop.
¡Sí se puede!… Yes we can.
As encouraging as that phrase is, I’ve come to believe there is an even deeper truth behind it. The world says, “Believe in yourself.”
“Believe in yourself.”
Scripture says,
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
— Philippians 4:13 (NASB 1995)
Notice where the strength comes from. Not from me. Not from positive thinking. Not from determination alone.
From Christ.
For me, that’s the difference.
As a coach, I absolutely want my players to believe in themselves, trust one another, and discover what they’re capable of becoming. But as a Christian, I believe the deepest source of strength isn’t found by looking inward – it’s found by looking upward. Not I, but Christ.
The world also says,
“Your circumstances determine your potential.”
Scripture says,
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
— James 1:2–4 (NASB 1995)
The world often sees obstacles as proof that you should quit. God often uses obstacles as the very place where He begins building perseverance, character, and faith. James is a great book to look to for personal growth and I think it fits perfectly with this popular verse from Philippians. Philippians 4:13 tells us where our strength comes from. James 1 tells us why God allows us to develop that strength. Together, they remind us that perseverance isn’t simply a personality trait. It is something God grows in us.
Every difficult practice, every setback, every disappointment, every unanswered prayer, and every mountain we thought we couldn’t climb becomes another opportunity for Him to strengthen our faith and shape our character. *Insert my WilsonMan singing “always gonna be a different mountain!” – dude’s 8 and already knows what’s up.
The goal was never simply to make us stronger athletes, students, employees, parents, or friends. The goal is to become more like Christ.
Every good thing we possess – our perseverance, courage, resilience, mental toughness, tenacity, wisdom, compassion, and hope – is ultimately a gift from God. Scripture reminds us that while we have a responsibility to grow, obey, and persevere, even our desire to keep going is evidence of God’s work within us. Paul writes,“…work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12–13 (NASB 1995). I love the balance found in those verses. It’s a partnership of obedience and grace.
God doesn’t ask us to earn His favor through our own strength, nor does He ask us to sit back and wait for Him to do everything for us. Instead, He calls us to faithfully take the next step while trusting that He is faithfully working within us every step of the way.
And when the road feels long as it often does, Hebrews offers another reminder: “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” Hebrews 12:1–2 (NASB 1995). Whether you’re stepping onto a basketball court, walking into a classroom, beginning a new job, facing a diagnosis, carrying financial burdens, or simply trying to make it through another day putting one foot in front of the other, I hope you’ll remember this:
When practice gets hard… ¡Sí se puede!
When life doesn’t go according to plan… ¡Sí se puede!
When doubt whispers that you’ll never be enough…¡Sí se puede!
Not because we are the strongest. Not because we are fearless. Not because I can. But because HE can.
Because Christ is faithful.
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
— Philippians 4:13 (NASB 1995)
So when life asks the question… Can we?
My answer is still the same. ¡Sí se puede!… Yes we can.
Not because I can. Because He can. As He always has and always will.
