Prime Realty sees the same values of focus, hard work, diversity, finishing, disciplined planning and experienced matched with talent disrupting college lacrosse the way Prime is bring change to the CRE industry.
By Tyler Saldutti.
As the final seconds counted down, the horn sounded, the University of Denver lacrosse players rushed the field in celebration, a new champion was crown, and I couldn't help but reflect on what just happened and how it relates to my life. You see, Denver's victory at the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship in Philadelphia this May is not only historic it represents a transformation. I see my company, Prime Realty, and the city of Jacksonville, FL achieving much of the same successful transformation.
For those of you outside of the lacrosse world, the sport has historically been dominated by the same east-coast university since the first intercollegiate lacrosse tournament was held in 1881 with Harvard beating Princeton 3-0 in the final. Starting in 1971 modern college lacrosse has crown a champion each May at the NCAA Division I Mens Lacrosse Championship. Prior to Denver's win this year the same nine east-coast "lacrosse schools" had won the previous 44 tournaments. Likewise you may look at the commercial real estate (CRE) brokerage landscape and see a similar history of established competitors, cronyism, and status quo operations. When faced with this phenomenon in Jacksonville it has been referee to as "the good ole boys club".
Denver's win shows that times have changed, talent and hard work prevail over all else, and anyone can win in open competition! This is true for Denver on the lacrosse field (lacrosse is our nation's fastest growing college sport) as it is for Prime Realty in the Florida CRE sector, one of our nation's fastest growing real estate markets.
A few other takeaways:
You Don't Have to be Big as Long as You Are Focused. Denver faced The University of Maryland in the finals. The size difference between Denver, the small private school with 11,000 students, and Maryland, the larger public university with 37,000 students, is congruent with the resources available to their respective Athletic Directors. But years ago Denver focused it's efforts and resources on building a lacrosse program and now they are champions. The competition on the field between these two institutions was nothing short of a David vs Goliath battle.
Experience is not Everything But It Sure Helps to have Someone on Your Team that Has Been There. Maryland had played in the national championships eleven times and won twice prior to taking the field against Denver. This year was Denver's first time playing a championship game. With that said, although none of the Denver players had national championship experience, their head coach, Bill Tierney, was right at home. This was Bill's seventh championship win as head coach.
Close Doesn't Count and Only Results Matter at the End of the Day. Both semi-final games to get to the championship were decided by a one point margin and Maryland hit the post of the goal multiple times during the championship game. One point here or there, or one inch this way or that way, and the results of the tournament are much different.
Have the Discipline to Plan, Work the Plan, Stick to the Plan, and the Championship is Yours. As Wesley Berg, the game's MVP, said in his interview after the game, "We stuck to a system and won." Both teams in the finals are known for playing their game, sticking to a game plan, and grinding out victorious with disciplined ball handling and a slower pace of play at times.
A Diverse Team is a Strong Team. The more diverse team won. Denver has assembled one of the most, if not the most, diverse college lacrosse team ever to play in a championship game. Denver has players from eighteen states and two Canadian provinces. This mixture of different talent from around North American gave them an edge this May and these diverse recruitment practices are sure to be replicated.
