I'm staying in Marystown this evening because I'm doing a presentation in Grand Bank, and I stumbled upon the softball fields where I played in the All Newfoundland Slow Pitch Tournament back when I was 14, which brought back the memories of how we only won a single game, the last one we played.
The reason we did so crappy wasn't because of a lack of individual talent, because we had a lot of good players, but a blatant lack of team chemistry, mostly brought on by the actions and words of one person caused us to fail as a unit. Even in an individually focused sport like softball, a lack of team unity can cause complete failure You no longer care about the team result, rather you are only worried about your own results. And not only is winning important, but having fun is as well, especially at the age of 14, and I don't recall a whole lot of fun happening on that trip, possibly because the team was divided into so many sub-groups that we just didn't gel with each other well. The only game we managed to win was when people were having fun because we knew the result didn't matter and instead of pointing the finger of blame at other people, it was just a fun game like it was meant to be. Although i gotta admit despite all the negativity surrounding those games it was awesome to hear someone over a speaker announce "now coming to the plate, #6 Keith Barrett". Made me feel like a pro!
As I get ready to interview for a supervisory position tomorrow I thought it was interesting to be able to look back on a lesson I learned almost 12 years ago and think about how it can certainly apply today. I have a feeling I may end up using this story in my interview tomorrow if asked to demonstrate the importance of team work and cohesiveness.
Also, Hotel Marystown hasn't changed in the 12 years I've been away - well except it smells like a hangover. Of course it probably did back then too, just I wasn't aware of what a night after drinking smelled like then!
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Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
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