The Berlin way to think, practice, perform and play in 2008

Berliner thanking the crowd after a victory at the World Final. Photo: The CGS League page

Name:
Jonas Alsaker Vikan

Position:
General Manager

About the author
Jonas Alsaker Vikan is the General Manager of Berlin Allianz. He led the team to a European championship and a third to fourth placing at the first CGS World Final. The twenty six year old Norwegian is also a journalist.

These are the traits that are hereby dubbed the most important for any Berliner.


Openness

This describes an attitude and outlook – both to competitive life and the aspect of being part of something bigger than the individual.

For every privileged Allianz player there are thousands that did not make it, despite working extremely hard to achieve the dream. That is to be respected and appreciated and lived every time a member of the team comes into contact with someone from the community, the media, league officials or partners. A common misconception where confidence is thought to equal stand offish attitudes to each other or the outside world will never be tolerated.


Honesty

Honesty is a mandatory trait – and it is mandatory because being up front with each other means respecting yourself and others enough to speak your mind. It is also the way to handle attention whether it is good, bad, warranted or unwarranted.

To live a competitive life honestly means to see one’s flaws better which will make for more rapid improvement. There is absolutely no room for prestige which is derived from misplaced personal pride. Becoming a champion means analyzing one self and reacting to the results whether they be good – or bad.


Responsibility


There are two main points to this trait. The first is described in part in openness. It means Berliner are attentive to their position and potential influence and impact on other people’s life. Often professional athletes argue that they «do not wish to be role models – because they did not choose to be one.»

It does not get more wrong than that.




If a person get into a position where he or she is part of this team it is by inherent choice, passion – and desire to do so. Human beings will always react differently to attention and limelight, some do not appreciate it while others thrive, but that does not figure into the equation as far as Berlin Allianz is concerned. There is a standard which everybody will have to live up to in terms of handling oneself – the reasoning behind this GM demand should be obvious. In a team of ten people working towards one common goal everybody’s actions reflect on everybody as well as the people supporting it.

The second part of this trait means having a backbone.

A backbone to face the music no matter what the tune is. It means we do not run – and we do not hide when our goals and ambitions are not fulfilled – for whatever reason. Everybody affiliated with the team is expected to uphold a standard, both in the face of victory as well as in defeat. All results, good or bad, are handled in the same professional manner; both inside of the organization and outwards towards our partners, sponsors, the league and the media.

There is a saying: «Win the same way you lose.»

The notion that victory and defeat should be handled the same way emotionally should be borderline obscene to any competitive individual. The extreme toughness of mind needed to be at the pinnacle of one’s abilities in the most public way, when it matters the most – on LIVE TV – is ultimately derived from an intense hatred of losing. However it is also derived from the passionate love of what you are doing. Ultimately it means respect yourself enough to go all in – with both heart and mind –
for something you really, really want.

There have been many ways of explaining this trait and it is readily referred to as «the edge» or «eye of the tiger», but it is in no way more complicated – and difficult to grasp than described in the paragraph above. To understand it is to take an active approach to one’s competitive fate, which can be scary because once all this is interred there are no more scapegoats. It is the way to know how to take the easiest approach to the most difficult of tasks.

For the very select few that are on Berlin Allianz at any given moment, or in any season, there are no such things as excuses.

There are good performances – and those not good enough. The only interesting thing that can be derived from the latter is what was not adequate and how to go about fixing it.




Such a mentality is what separates the number 1s from an excessive pool of guys and girls that want to be there – and it is something to truly strive for and something that will be valuable later in life – long after the glitz and glam of a live CGS competition is distant memory.

A team grows its own culture as its history is created. At the same time the most beautiful thing about team sports is the look. While a fantastic personal performance can be satisfying enough it will never be as sweet as when you put down the controller or mouse to be swamped by raging team mates – thrilled and thankful as something you did help them accomplish their dreams as well as your own.

At the same time competitive life is a history of peaks and canyons. The aforementioned demand to pour your heart into this competitive endeavor where there is no safety net must also be grounded in that the entire team understands that this is one small boat where everyone will spend infinitive amounts of time and sweat together to cross a very big ocean.

There are infinite ways of working towards sporting excellence. Some are inherently better or worse than others. This is how Berlin Allianz structure off- and pre-season input and training to increase the possibility of success in the end game.

Hard work is always the foundation. It creates a platform for the team and the individual competitor to launch his or her campaign from. This foundation will yield performance.

Performance founded on hard work instills confidence in a team and the individual because it means that an achievement was not random or a fluke. Preparation and hard work provides a small measure of control over one’s own way of achieving ambitions and realizing dreams.

Confidence derived from performance built on hard work will transform to consistency. Consistency should be considered the holy grail – it is the most difficult trait to learn and obtain – in any sport. It means you know that any time you go out there you can and will be able to bring the points you need to win.

Ten players that can do that is a perfect team that will win no matter the odds – and if you are on this team you strive for it, every minute of every hour of every day. To go out there on that stage and feel secure and safe also means standing on the shoulders of others to reach higher.

Going at it alone is something we do not do – which is why the team lives by the words




Nie Alleine – Never Alone

The European Combine event and Draft for the Championship Gaming Series beings May 16th. For the fans the paragraphs above outline the persons you will be supporting this year.

As for the players who will be on site hoping for a spot – do you really know that you have what it takes? I hope so, but if not – hey, there’s always the other teams.