From the beginning of The Edge conditioning program, Wildcats Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Greg Owens has been reading a page or two a day from a book to the athletes. The book is entitled, Chop Wood, Carry Water. It features a Samurai archer. Coach Owens said he heard about the book at a clinic presented by SMU Football Coach Chad Morris. Coach Owens picked up a copy of the book and he liked it’s messages for athletes. He compared it to an athlete’s daily devotional.
Coach Owens said stories teach things like work ethic, perseverance, and mental and physical toughness. He said each story applies to what an athlete is doing at The Edge that day. Coach Owens said each day’s five minute reading leaves the listener wanting to know what will happen next. He said the readings are popular with both athletes and coaches. Coach Owens said he has gone through about twenty chapters of the book so far. He expects to finish the book’s last eight chapter by the end of The Edge in early August.
