Clint Myers, Auburn’s softball coach, spoke to members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Myers spoke about how “greatness is a way of life.”
“The idea that greatness is a way of life is a 24/7 belief," Meyers said. "The saying itself has no age barrier because it is a mindset. We are all products of our own decisions, and I believe that greatness is a way of life. I have passed this belief on to my friends, onto my family and onto my players. It is a mentality I have had for a very long time.”
Myers said he believed there were four ways to learn, to see it, to hear it, to do it and to teach it. He said that the moments in life were what really counted.
“I want my players to feel the accomplishment of a great moment,” Myers said. “Life is exciting so spend the time and enjoy the moments. It is the importance of these moments that I try to get these girls to understand.”
During his speech, Myers said learning was not age-based. He told a story about playing board games with his grandkids.
“My wife gets onto me all the time when I play games with my grandsons," Myers said. "She says, ‘Let them win.’ I say, ‘No’ because they need to understand and learn that they won’t always win. They have beaten me a few times, and when they do I shake their hand and tell them what a great game it was. They feel a sense of accomplishment because they earned that win.”
Howard Butler, friend of Myers and OLLI member, said that he chose Myers to speak because he was in awe of the fact that a 60-65 year old man could motivate a young group of women to accomplish such great things.
This year will be Myers 31st year as a head coach.
Myers said he was excited anytime he could talk to anyone about Auburn University and the Auburn softball team.
“We had a phenomenal and very exciting year with a lot the firsts that we were able to accomplish,” Myers said. “But to speak to people and get them interested in the game gets me back into my teaching days. I love to teach and having the opportunity to go to a place where someone wants to learn something is very exciting because I think when you stop striving for knowledge then life gets awfully dull.”
OLLI provides academic programming, not for credit, to adults who are ages 50 and older.
“What we try to do at OLLI at Auburn is offer programming of all types, so we have something for everyone,” said Linda Shook, OLLI director. “We try to include classes that work the mind like art and also classes that work the body like yoga.”
To learn more about OLLI at Auburn visit www.olliatauburn.org.
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