CAFB sports season ends back on the plate, OG takes Commander's Trophy

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Chase Hedrick
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Columbus Air Force Base athletes and athletic supporters came together at the Columbus Club Feb. 28 for the third Annual Sports Awards Banquet.

The event was a culmination of a successful season of base intramural sports that persevered through the budget constraints of FY 2010. Largely in part to the nearly $21,000 in monetary support and services from local businesses that will continue to support programs throughout 2011 said Rob Wilburn, director of the Columbus Fitness Center and master of ceremonies for the banquet.

The banquet featured Mississippi State University's head baseball coach, John Cohen, as the guest speaker for the evening. Mr. Cohen discussed several of the lessons that he said he has pulled from the military and applied to training new athletes at MSU.

Increased confidence through skill acquisition is key according to Coach Cohen, something he said that is missed often in today's society. To counteract this, the coach said he often encourages new players to "figure it out" on their own.

"This is the first thing we teach our players when they get to Mississippi State," he said. "I've been doing it for 10 years and I love this concept of FiO (Figure it Out)."

With confidence comes often comes pride. Coach Cohen said he's especially concerned about making sure his team holds onto the right kind of pride, the one that keeps them from feeling they are above certain positions or responsibilities.

"Pride in Mississippi State... wonderful. Pride in the unit... wonderful. Pride in something that's greater than myself... absolutely, great," he said. "But self pride that's going to prevent me from being responsible is a really dangerous thing."

Col. George Ross, 14th Flying Training Wing Vice Commander, closed the event with a few final words and congratulated the 14th Operations Group on the commander's trophy.

"Now I think we need to get the OG a little more involved in other things because man the OSS rocked!" said Colonel Ross.


Cutline:
John Cohen, Mississippi State University's head baseball coach speaks during the third Annual Sports Awards Banquet at the Columbus Club on Feb. 28. Coach Cohen has been coaching college baseball for nearly 20 years and says he uses concepts he got from the military when training his players. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Chase Hedrick)