Who Cares? Written by our first guest writer, Brian Cunningham.
Wow! I’m new to this competitive softball things, but all of this got me to thinking about the old days and competing at various levels. It seemed that when I was younger playing at various levels, that the game had such highs and lows. It will make you crazy. As the level got higher, handling the pressure got so much easier even though in theory it meant more. What I have learned seems to hold true no matter the level or the sport. Competition is competition and the real questions to answer is “Who Cares?”.
I had the opportunity to talk with Royals pitcher Tim Collins yesterday. We played golf together on his day off. Pretty nice kid, yes, he is 24. He had an interesting perspective about competition that might be seen as complacency to many of us. This almost complacent mentality that is needed in order to survive the competitive world is really nothing more than consistency. Never getting too up or down on yourself. Don’t take it so seriously that you can’t get over failure. Never celebrate like you are invincible, except for very short periods of time because it is fun when everything is working! He is just an ordinary guy, who has done well in the game of baseball and is now about to have a kid of his own. We talked about competition and the idea of “Who Cares?”. Amazing how well adjusted this guy is. By the way, he is 5’9” and throws the ball upwards of 95 MPH. This is a good thing when ESPN shows him striking out the competition because it looks nasty, but bad when bombs get hit and you give up the game winner. Either way, he has made it to the highest level possible and regularly gets to compete. I don’t know about you, but when I see him on ESPN I think about it for a minute or less and then I forget and move on. So “Who really cares?”. Just him, his teammates, coaches, ownership, and probably his family/friends. Outside of that, nobody really cares for very long.
This weekend was just another step in a hopefully long journey for the girls/parents/coaches. At this age and what I learned…at any age… we should be trying to develop consistency. I believe that is what is happening for this team. Parents work together, coaches work together, and the kids take it all in and try hard to live up to some standard that is placed in front of them. Hopefully that standard of excellence is their own internally developed standard and not something that is expected from someone else. Sure they get down, as is to be expected with a rough performance . This game is full of failure. A person that can eliminate the mental mistakes and if they have the physical ability, can continue down the road. If mental mistakes are not improved the road gets longer and tougher.
That attitude should be not too high when we’re high, not to low, when we’re down. Just consistency. Go about your business, work hard in practice, and come ready to play on the weekend. Consistent hard work, not getting down, believing in yourself and your team. Of course, celebrate the successes that happen, but learn to let the bad go. Practice is a good chance to refocus on where we are, what we need to get done, and what we want the future to look like. Winning will take care of itself.
I was once told, “Who Cares?” after a loss to a team that really was bad. This question was posed at a high level of college competition. I think everyone on that team had the mentality that it was do or die and when you have that, you get tight. When you are tight, you don’t play well. The result of a great win or a bad loss is all left there at the field, leaving nobody really to care except the players, coaches, and parents. It will not be in the paper or on TV. The end result is that nobody really cares outside of a small group. This same thing is going on all over America. The quicker that is realized, the more productive a team can get.
Getting focused at practice, defining why you are there as a player/coach/parent. Developing team goals and setting out to accomplish them is what it is about. This organization is something that the girls should hold in high esteem. The Dirt Devils jersey should be worn with distinction. Being a part of this is about building a solid reputation for being the best competitor on a consistent basis. It is about building the girls individually and preparing them for the next level of competition. It is about paving the way for younger girls to join a successful organization that is looked up to around the area. It is about more than how a player or an individual team did last weekend. The organization is building ladies to be successful for years to come.
The answer to “Who cares?” is easy. We All Do... Just keep it in perspective when things are going great or when they aren’t . There are many more games to this season and next, and the next. Many changes will be made. There will be plenty of players with 4 hit games, with multiple error games, scoring the winning run, or giving up the winning run. New bat types will be introduced with cool new stickers for the umpire to check. The umpires will always stink, the parents will always be rooting for their babies, and the coaches will scratch their heads trying to figure out how to make it all work and be successful.
No comments:
Post a Comment