I became the Head Varsity Fastpitch Softball Coach at Blue Valley High School in the summer of 1999, a year after they lost three players in a car accident. The first season I coached, in the Spring of 2000, the varsity players dedicated the season to their lost teammates and friends, 2-4-12. They wanted to honor 2-4-12 by winning the Conference Championship because the Conference Champion received a Conference Championship Board to hang on the wall in the gym. They wanted to honor 2-4-12 by hanging three ribbons on the Board, one for each of their lost teammates and friends, 2, 4 and 12.
As they pursued this goal it became clear that these players were so committed to honoring their lost teammates and friends 2-4-12, that they were willing to do things that no other team had ever done before.
Where did this very powerful motivation come from?
Any time we set out to pursue a goal it is inevitable that there will be moments when we must pay a price to continue to move forward towards that goal. It is at these moments that we often Bend the Standard to where we feel comfortable. Although this may allow us to feel comfortable, any time we Bend the Standard, we will fall short of what it takes to reach our goal.
For my players, the origin of this discipline came from the simple and yet powerful fact that “We can’t bend death.” These players had faced the reality and the finality of death. In the loss of their teammates and friends they were forced to face the world as it is not as they hoped it would be. This same reality was transferred into The Standard of The Game. As a result they dealt with The Game as it is not as they hoped it would be.
In the end it was always a simple calculation. In the end it was the most basic of correlations. Those teams and players who pointed to some aspect of The Standard of the Game as unfair, who whined to their parents that the Team Rules and Standards “were unfair”, these were the teams and players who fell short of The Standard of the Game. In so doing they failed to meet their goals because they were trying to Bend The Standard to where they felt comfortable, rather than meet The Standard and in doing so touch success. On the other hand, those teams and players who were willing to do whatever was necessary to meet the Standard of the Game, no matter how uncomfortable this might be, these were the teams and players who not only met, but they often surpassed their goals.
The origin of the players discipline that year came from the simple fact that “We can’t bend death.” These players had faced the reality of the finality of death. In the loss of their teammates and friends they faced the world as it is not as they hoped it would be. This same reality was transferred into The Standard of The Game. They dealt with The Game as it is not as they hoped it would be. This was the Legacy of 2-4-12.
This Legacy was passed on to future teams and teammates empowering them to overcome illness, injuries and accidents they would face, both individually and as a team. Whether it was pitching with a swollen hand, pitching with a 100 degree fever, playing through the fatigue caused by Lupus or playing and pitching through the excruciating side effects of chemo therapy. This is only a glimpse of what they were willing to do to “Take Care of Their Teammates and Friends.” Here they would not only Meet the Standard of the Game they would also Meet the Standard of Life. And it would be here, as they met the Standard of Life, that they would touch the Eternal.