Publicity

Golden rule: Never believe your own publicity!

Play well and you might get noticed. Play very well and you might get selected to play in a representative team. Perform with excellence and you may attract media attention. But never get too carried away with your publicity. Some say you are only as good as your last game, but in reality you are only as good as your next game.

Getting carried away with hype about your great record of success, or expectations for future performance can often lead to disaster. (see Expectations)

You can unwittingly:

·         End up with an inflated ego which will let you down

·         Put yourself under immense pressure to live up to expectation

·         Generally distract yourself from your task

·         Make you self-conscious

Being a top sportsperson will put you in the spotlight. Some people find this difficult or impossible to deal with.

So remember -

• Don’t ever provide a reason for somebody to publish something negative about you – bad behaviour, negative comments etc.

• Avoid taking notice of your own publicity - it's only somebody's opinion and can be misleading.

• Get used to cameras, reporters and crowds – if you get good enough they’ll come with the territory!!