“Go hard and be the best that you can,” says former All Black Rugby Great

These were the final words of wisdom offered by former All black and World No1 rugby flanker Josh Kronfeld during his casual speech to a full house of dignitaries, politicians, guests, sports administrators, athletes and their families at the 2010 Cook Islands Sports Awards ceremony held at the Aroa Nui Hall in Arorangi last night.
After a long but historical overview of how the Olympics came about during the delivery from Sir Geoffrey Henry President of CISNOC and congratulatory remarks by the Minister of Sports Hon Apii Piho, Kronfeld felt compelled to limit his speech to an area that he was familiar with and that was his love for rugby. The sporting community of the Cook Islands were delighted to have Kronfeld as guest speaker at this year’s Sports Awards and paid tribute to his commitment and drive to achieve sporting excellence in rugby.
At the start of his speech, he spoke about encouraging young people to play many sports as he reminisced over his illustrious career in rugby. His passion for the game had exposed him to many situations both good and bad and people for whom he has great admiration for including of course famous All Black colleagues such as the legendary Michael Jones, Jonah Lomu, Eroni Clarke and Marc Ellis to name a few.
His passion for the game started when he was just a young boy and he recalled one particular after match function where he had won a prize (a bar of chocolate which was big in those days). On his return home with his father, he broke into tears. When questioned by his dad as to why he was crying especially after winning a prize, Kronfeld replied “why can’t we win.”
Those words were to have prophetic consequences and a lasting effect on a young boy who later in life, became a legend in his own right because of what he considered were “ mantra of thoughts or words of wisdom” from people like his father, who were to set a direction for his future and anchor his commitment for rugby by “not only achieving at what he is good at, but by being the best at what he is good at.”
“Have patience, learn patience” were also part of his mantra of thoughts and encouraged local athletes to ensure those principles formed a part of their goals to achievement in their various sports activities.
Kronfeld recounted on the highs and lows of his rugby career and attributes his success not only to himself but to his family and friends who supported him during his rise to fame. But most importantly, his goal for achievement was to be the first to get to the breakdown and the first to get to the ball. Well, the rest is history and through rugby, it has taken him to new heights in terms of both a career and a passion for doing something he loved doing.
Amidst small fits of laughter during recantations of his good old rugby days with his PI (Pacific Island mates) and All Black colleagues, his message, words of encouragement and challenge to everyone present especially the athletes was clear. “Where do you go when you get to the top of your game!” His response was simple but very effective. “Where you get to where you are, think higher and be the best at what you’ve got. You can never be like someone else, you can only be yourself.”
According to Kronfeld, these “mantra of thoughts in sports” were so important to him and he encouraged others to always bear that in mind when facing new challenges.
Several other mantra of thoughts included; “be the first to the ball and do the best that you can; don’t stop learning and learn to listen (so important in a challenging and competitive sports environment); be proud of who you are and where you’re from; No matter where you come from, these thoughts give you inner strength and drive so Go Hard and be the best that you can!”
Kronfeld is no stranger to the Cook Islands and has visited several times. He thanked his sponsors for their support and in his casual like manner and judging from his “mantra of thoughts” his personality and character epitomizes the aspirations and dreams of all our athletes for their future endeavours. The Herald thanks Josh Kronfeld and his family for gracing our sporting community with his presence and we extend our congratulations to all the Awards winners on the night.

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