Do you see it??

What do you see in this picture?  Take a moment and look at it.  What do you see?  Do you see coaches trying to recruit players from another team while at a tournament?  Do you see a group deciding on who should be doing what was promised and failed?  Do you see bickering about where someone should be playing or maybe how many points we have to stay in 1^st place or are they playing a coin flip because one team deems itself far more superior than the other and has decided not play and instead base the result on a coin flip?  If you do, you have serious issues and maybe you should rethink your reasoning about playing, coaching or being involved with girl’s fast pitch.     

What you see here is the reason we play.   A small moment in time when all the BS, EGO trips, failures, statistics and such don’t matter.  Did one team just get done beating the other? Yes, they did.  At that moment, it didn’t matter. 

Before I go farther here, I want to go into detail of my reflections of this weekend.  As the 10U coach, and coming of a successful 8U run from the year before, and watching things last year, I seen A LOT of positive this weekend. 

I seen a girl play through severe pain because she wanted to be there.  I know she was upset with Mike and me, but we understood her pain.  I can only speak for myself here as I understand that injury, I lived it at an older age.  I was inspired by her desire to play through that pain, the drive to be there and be on that field.  THAT’s why we PLAY!!

I seen a girl go out after a year of pitching instruction, no games under her belt and struggle, but the team supported her through it.  She was upset with herself, but after a few words of encouragement, went out and played her heart out with a smile.  I then seen a another pitcher step up and take over and the team supported her just as much as they did the others. THAT’s why we PLAY!!!

I seen a girl that came for miles away to play for WCI.  She was new to the area, but with lots of game experience.  She had practiced with them, but not played in a game with them.  She came in and played with a group of girls she didn’t know.  Those girls welcomed her and brought her within the WCI family.  They gave her everything and she did them as well.  NEVER once left out. THAT is why we PLAY!!!

I seen a girl, new to the organization.  When I say new, I mean two maybe three weeks in.  We went in that tourney catcher “light”  And when I say light, I mean she was the only one that had any catching experience in a game, after losing the only other catcher that did.   She caught every inning of every game.  Not once complaining and not once giving up.  THAT is why we PLAY!

I seen a group of girls that have never played fast pitch at this level, go out and put their heart into it.  Sure they got tired as they played more games in a weekend than they did in a season a year before, but they never complained and gave it everything they had.  THAT is why we PLAY!

I seen a team. A team that played together.  A team of that understood there is no “I” in team.  A team that hung together no matter what.  A team that believes.  A team that was also a group of friends and supported each other.  When one was down, the others brought them up.  They never gave up, they supported each other and stood by each other through thick and thin.   THAT is why we PLAY!!!

(I also want to say that every girl on this team put forth great effort and if I don’t mention you or your efforts it isn’t because you didn’t impress me, it’s because there was so much positive energy that I would be writing forever to include it all.)

Then came the moment.  The moment that put everything that is wrong in competition softball in its place.  The moment I will take with me when I coach the rest of this season, and the seasons to come.  See, I was just a book keeper for the 12U this weekend (at least on Saturday), so I had plenty of time to reflect and see the little things.  I was asked to check the brackets after the win, so I did.  When I came back, that is when I seen the moment.  That moment was a girl of high school age whom this tournament was for.  A girl who plays High School Softball who had a fight with cancer and now is cancer free.  Her name is Aly Bennett.  I could see the humble look as she walked onto the field to be with the girls.   She plays each game not knowing if something will happen and it will be her last.  She plays knowing maybe she may not play anymore outside of High School.  She plays each day like it could be the last one. 

She stood their humbled by the two teams that just done battle coming together to show her their support.  She took a picture with the teams, and then this moment happened.  The moment above is a prayer circle that one coach suggested.  And it doesn’t matter your belief system, agnostic, Christian, Catholic, Islamic, Baptist, Buddist, or nothing at all, this moment is a touching moment for all to reflect.   THIS is why we PLAY!!!!

So while you sit there reading this, ask yourself.  Why do I play?  Why do I coach?  Why do I want to be a softball parent?  If it is because you are more worried about what it says on your jersey or banner than you are about your teammates or you get your jollies by trying to destroy other’s by making yourself better, maybe, just maybe you should go into something else, like boxing, or MMA, or something where there is no team and just an “I”  Or as a parent you don’t care about anyone else but yourself and how you look.  Don’t understand the loses and wants to WIN AT ALL COSTS!!  Or as a coach, you destroy other teams and write it off as “working on things.”  You don’t care about anything and LOVE THE POWER of being in control, when in reality, you have very little.  Then you don’t get it.  You don’t get the picture, the moment.  You would be numb to it, or play it off.  Not reflecting on it.  You wouldn’t get it if it jumped up and slapped you in the face.  And if anyone is offended by this, then that person is YOU! 

If your answer is you want to be more competitive, and you will do what it takes to help the team.  That you understand that you want to play ball outside of high school and in college, but won’t do so while walking on others, that there is more to competition ball than it being about “ME” and without the love and support of your teammates you would be alone on the field.  Or as a parent you answer because you love to see your kid play, but they are playing because they want too, not because you have some unfinished business from your childhood that you want to relive within your child.  Or as a coach you answer because you have a passion for the game and understand that in the end, it’s about the girls and not about how inflated your ego can be or how many points gained for playing in a tourney or how many runs you score to bury the team you are playing. Then you get it.  You get that THIS is why we PLAY. You look at the picture, you see it.  You feel it.  You understand it. 

THIS IS WHY WE PLAY!!!!!