R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Last week I wrote about trying to figure out what kind of coach I was.  Tonight, I had my first volleyball games of the 2011 season and what I was was an embarrassed coach. 

As I watched 18 year old kids make fools of themselves for two hours, I was really disappointed in the team that I was a part of.   Not only were there rude and disrespectful to me but they were just as bad to the other teams we played.  As a coach, I can tolerate losing.  I am ok being on a team that loses every game because it is not the numbers in the win/ lose columns of their final records that will determine if they are a loser.  If you give something your all and you end up on the losing side of the score board, that is still a respectable effort.  That is a performance I can support.  You can correct losing.   As a coach you can help them work harder to figure out the things they need to fix in order to get better or you change lines ups to come up with what works best.  It’s ignorance that I refuse to tolerate because then I am really dealing with a loser and I refuse to stoop to that level.

It is a common saying in sports that you play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back but if you think about it, you should be playing for both.  The name on the front represents your team.  There is no “I” in team and when you put on that uniform you are supposed to play for the betterment of the team, not individual success.  However, the name on the back is usually your last name and when you put your last name on your body and take to a court or field, it has nothing to do with individual glory.  That name represents you.  It represents where you came from and the values you were raised with.  You share that name with other people and you should never shame it by acting any less that classy. 

We played 2 games, 6 total sets and went 3-3.  By the numbers you would say we didn’t do too badly but this team lost a whole like more than they won.  They won three games but they lost my respect.  In sports and in life, we have to remember that how we play the game is just as important as the final score.  How we act in our everyday lives or at a sporting event is a direct reflection of who we are as people.  We wear our last names on the back of our jerseys in sports but in life we wear them every day.  We should take pride in that.  Someone gave you that name and you should either aim to make it better or just hope to live up the honor of having it.  We shouldn’t tarnish it by acting foolish.