When it comes to
winning in any sort of situation, whether it is in a sporting event,
competition, or award ceremony to what extent are we willing to go in order to
win? Are we willing to sacrifice what is right and only think of ourselves? Or
will we work as a team to achieve something far more valuable than any award or
trophy could ever give us? And if so
what will that mean to us in the future?
I have never been the best baseball player but I would
always try my hardest to contribute to the team in any way that I could. I
always played outfield and whenever the ball came to me I would throw the ball
to where ever it needed to be. However, when it came to one particular season,
I became one of the key factors to my team’s success. During this season I was one of the driving
forces that brought in the most runs. Whenever I would go up to bat I would
either get hit by the pitch or be walked. As a result I got on base very often.
When I first started getting on base, I tried to steal bases but had difficulty
getting the hang of it. In one particular practice the coach worked with me on
sliding and stealing bases. As a result I led the league in the most stolen
bases, as well as the most walks. By the end of the season we had made it to
the play offs. We had worked so hard as a team all around and it did not matter
if we had won or lost. We were just glad that we had made it to this point. We
ended up winning two playoff games which led us to the championship. It was
what happened at the championship game that came to teach us all a very
important lesson about life.
It was the bottom of the ninth and we were up by one.
There were two outs and a runner on third.
The coach on the other team decided to make an illegal substitution by
replacing the batter who was about to go up with his best hitter on the team. Parents got outraged and started yelling at the
umpire to do something. The umpire called time out and had the two coaches come
to the plate and talk. The coach on the other team started yelling and
screaming at my coach, but my coach kept it cool. My coach decided not to
challenge or argue with the other coach and left the mound. The umpire
ultimately decided to let the other coach switch his batter. As a result we
ended up losing the game and getting second place.
After the game was over, our coach had us all sit down
and had a talk. He asked us what we thought we did well during the season. We
talked about how we all worked as a team and supported one another. Whenever
someone on the team had a particular area of weakness, we would as a team work
with and encourage that person to become better at what they were struggling
with.
Then
we had a discussion about the game we just played and I will always remember
what the coach said to us that night, “Boys in life, winning the game is not
what is important, it’s how you play it and how you remember it. If you play
the game just to win you’re not really playing the game. Baseball, or any sport
in general is about having fun and working as a team. Don’t get me wrong winning is important, but
there comes a point where it doesn’t matter if you’ve won or lost. It’s what
you were able to accomplish up to that point that makes the world of a
difference. We made it so far thanks to you guys. We worked as a team and
played the hardest that we could and in my book that’s all that will ever
matter. To me you are all true champions, no matter what happens in the game,
or in life.”
No comments:
Post a Comment