As a coach, I want you to succeed. I want you to push yourselves and improve. I want you to love this game and come back to it time and time again. But first, I want you to be happy.
This is not just softball to me; this is life. When I ask you to tell me what makes a great player, I’m sure I would hear things like savvy base running, a strong throw, quick feet, and hand-eye coordination. But the characteristics I believe truly matter go much deeper than mere physical qualities and abilities. I think great athletes possess qualities like courage, persistence, selflessness, and patience.
Throughout my entire career, I’ve always heard that softball is an escape. But I never truly understood the essence of that statement until a few years ago when I was working as an instructional aide in elementary schools. I had just moved to a new city where I didn’t know many people, my romantic life was a bit rough, my graduate program was working me to the bone, and I was trying my best to adapt to living in a large city. Emotionally, I was struggling to get by on a day-to-day basis. At first, going to work was tough. I truly enjoyed my job, but I could feel myself going through the motions. I was physically there, but my mind was always wandering off somewhere else.
Watching my students fully immerse themselves in the daily joys of being a third grader made me realize that I should be doing just that with them. For Pete’s sake, my job consisted of hanging out with eight-year-old kids, coloring, and playing games. It was an amazing job to have. It was hard at first to really let go of life outside of work, but with practice, I was able to fully enjoy myself every day.
We miss so many of life’s wonderful moments by worrying about the past or future instead of living in the present. When I found myself doing this at work, I would make myself recite three to five things that were in my immediate present. Things like, “It’s a beautiful day outside, we are playing balloon volleyball, and I’m coloring in third grade again.” It shifted my focus back to what I was doing, got me out of my head, and allowed me to simply live in the moment.
I didn’t recognize its importance at the time, but softball is what got me through every speed bump I hit from ages 8 to 22. The game was always something that was there for me.
It was a place where I could forget the world and dive into the reality of improving as a player and becoming successful in a game I loved. The satisfaction of working hard, improving, developing relationships, and being a part of something bigger than myself allowed me to establish a healthy sense of self-worth. It was my escape and saving grace when the world got tough. It reinforced the notion that even when life gets tough, there’s always a piece of it worth fighting for, always something to enjoy.
With that said, here on this field, I want you to develop into the people you want to be. I want you to take this time to be selfish. Shut out the rest of the world and better yourself here.
Quote of the Day:
“The wins and losses will fade away, but the friendships and memories will last a lifetime.”
One Game, One Love. 