Competing Against the Motivation of Tragedy

Had a quick thought this morning that required more than the 140 characters of Twitter or a simple Facebook paragraph. So, here is a bonus blog post for today.

First, I would like to offer a sincere prayer of sympathy for the Maiden family of Nelsonville-York, especially for the young man (Garrett) who will undoubtedly take to the football field this evening with a very heavy heart and memory of his father, who recently passed away. On behalf of the Athens Bulldogs community, I pray that God will provide peace and strength and comfort to Garrett and to the Maiden family while they wade through the many emotions that accompany the loss of a loved one.

A thought-provoking question that was posed to me today is this: "How do you inspire high school players to go out and play as hard as they normally would against a team with a player who has recently (within the past 24 hours) had a close family member pass away?"

The answer is simple. In fact, to answer that question is to truly understand the nature of sports. Fundamentally, sports are not personal. The "battle" and the competition is not a personal one and should never be taken personally. Teams and players who lose sight of this important fact are the kinds of players who allow their emotions to get the best of them while on the field. They tend to lose focus, and thus lose control... and often, because of this, lose the game.

The way I would answer the question above is, I would tell our players that the best way to honor the dignity of the opponent would be to go out and give him the fiercest possible competition he could receive. Anything less would be a disrespect. If an opponent, after experiencing a tragedy, still chooses to step onto the field of competition and play the game, then they deserve nothing but the best effort from us. Beating (and desiring to beat) an opponent after they have experienced a tragedy has nothing to do with your condolences on a personal level. The brotherhood of sport requires us all to get after it just as hard as we normally would. Otherwise, we should not play at all.

I liken this concept to the method I used to teach a group of 4th grade girls to play hard and fierce on the basketball court. They were all such nice, sweet girls and did not want to hurt each other's feelings. Therefore they didn't want to get after loose balls or box out one another, and basically do the things that competition requires. So, I walked them over to the light switch on the wall of the gym and I said,

"How different would this gymnasium look and feel if we flipped this switch?"

Then I flipped it and the room went pitch black. They all gasped, and while standing in the dark, they grabbed each other's hands, and I told them:

"Standing here holding hands is what every hour of your day is like. You're great friends, you have lovely and sweet character, you are nice to one another. But for 2 hours of your day, you step into this gym..."

I flipped the light switch back on.

"And when you step into this gym, you must flip a switch in your mind. When that switch is flipped, you are no longer the nice, sweet little girl. When that switch is flipped, you are the most aggressive, fierce competitor that you can possibly be. You dive for loose balls, you block out your opponent to keep them from getting rebounds, you take the ball away from them, and you do everything you can to defeat them within the rules of the game."

And I emphasized... when that switch is flipped, this is now how you show your respect and your good character. That's what the game expects from you, so anything less would be a disrespect to the game and to the opponent. When you flip the switch, you turn OFF the PERSONAL... and you turn ON the COMPETITOR.

When playing against a team that you know is going to be riding on the inspiration of tragedy, you must flip the switch. The game isn't personal. The game expects you to get after it, and get after it as hard as you can!

Of course, we offer our respect and condolences before and after the competition. But, when you step between those lines... we flip the switch!

Go Bulldogs!