Adam Ezekiel – Director of Students

What can we learn from the New Zealand All Blacks?

I love my sport! I am fascinated by professional sport and what it takes for athletes to reach the pinnacle of their chosen field. 

Over the holidays I came across a book called, ‘Legacy,’ which, as Booktopia puts it – goes deep into the heart of the world’s most successful sporting team, the legendary New Zealand All Blacks. I was excited to read about how this national rugby union team could dominate their sport for such a long period of time, having close to an 80% win rate from all matches.

Little did I realise that this book was not about the All Blacks developing the strongest, fastest or most skillful rugby players, rather, it is a book about developing great people and a guide to succeeding in life that can be applied to any context.

In Assembly this week, I shared three lessons that the New Zealand All Blacks value and urged students to consider how they can adopt these values in their lives:

Character – ‘Sweep the Sheds’

‘Never be too big to do the small things that need to be done.’

A professional sport team like the All Blacks would have many support staff and they could easily delegate someone to clean the sheds after each game. But not the All Blacks! The All Blacks literally sweep the sheds after the game. It’s how they express and practise humility, which they marry up with their pride.

So how can our students ‘sweep the sheds’ in their lives?

• Do the little things – clean their room, unstack the dishwasher, wash their clothes. 
• Or at school – put rubbish in the bin, respect school property and put the basketballs back in the tub during recess and lunch.

Never be too big to do the small things… sweep the sheds!

Embrace Expectations – aim for the highest cloud

The All Blacks have the highest expectations when it comes to training, preparation, recovery and their behaviour both on and off the field. The team’s high expectations result in each player developing an internal benchmark that they agree to live by. 

What is our students’ internal benchmark? 

How can they embrace expectations at school?

• Uniform – hold themselves to a high standard in the way that they wear the school uniform. 
• Behaviour – think about the benchmark that they are holding themselves to both in and outside of the classroom.
• Learning – what expectations do they place upon themselves for their learning?

The best form of motivation comes from within, we call this internal motivation. 

Rituals

The All Blacks have several rituals that point to their shared history, reminding and reigniting their collective identity and purpose. Their team culture is unique, and it is based on their heritage as a nation and rugby team. This is part of creating the legacy that others will inherit. The infamous Maori Haka is just one of their rituals.

What rituals do we value at Emanuel? 

• Dressing up for Purim
• Whole House dances at House Music
• Monday morning Tefillah, and
• Ruach dancing on Shabbat

These rituals point to our deep connection with Judaism, the history of Emanuel school and are generated from years and years of people before us. Respect these rituals and know that they are deeply embedded into the history and life of Emanuel School.

So what can we learn from arguably the greatest sporting team in history…

1. Character – doing the right thing when nobody’s looking 
2. Embrace expectations – hold yourself to a high standard
3. Rituals – be a good ancestor and plant trees that you will never see