Perhaps the biggest soccer news story of the last month was the death of Edson Arantes de Nasciemento. Better known to the world as Pele.

I can’t add much to the memories, testimonials, and tributes to one of the most transformative players in the history of the game. I never met him or saw him in person. My appreciation of his game is limited to grainy clips on the internet and the regular opining of books and talking heads.

But, just as we did when his fellow legendary player, Diego Maradona, passed away, I wanted to take a minute and listen to Pele to share some of his advice with you as well.

As easy as it is to classify a player or a talent as other worldly and magical, Pele made no mistake what accounted for his records and his reputation

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”

Pele

I’ve said all those things to you, but rarely as succinctly and clearly as Pele (or possibly his ghostwriter) did there.

You don’t luck in to doing things well. You have to work at them, struggle through them, let go of little things to make another better, and all of that happens when you care about what you do and enjoy the art of mastering it.

I noticed that same skill on display at the other end of the pitch in the first match of our year. As Ross County blunted wave after wave of Aberdeen attack, Alex Iacovitti was in the center of it. A leg here. A head there. He successfully spurned attack after attack. Though County didn’t win the game, it’s hard not to appreciate Iacovitti’s success.

As Pele points out, success isn’t simply victories, records, or trophies. It’s improvement, development, and growth, it’s an individual doing what they set out to do.

We give a lot of time and attention to athletes accomplishing big things, but it applies to every one and at every age.

Before the holidays, we had a serious job to do: writing a letter to Santa. Alex made his requests and then went to sign his name. It didn’t turn out how he had planned, and there was a sudden shift. Alex suggested again and again that someone else do it for him. That he couldn’t do it. That it was never right.

But he kept trying, kept working and ended up signing his name twice (he really wanted to make sure Santa knew who was asking). After seeing the frustration, the fear, and the anxiety of doing it wrong, it was a wonderful gift to see you celebrate learning to do something new.

There will never be another Pele, but there will be many other successful moments. I hope you boys relish those moments, and also appreciate all that went in to making them happen.

Our Alex and writing his name.