Although I enjoy
watching football, and my children participated in sports at various levels, I
can honestly say, I know very little about any given sport. However, I am very glad that my children
participated in sports because they learned character shaping life lessons. One of the many valuable lessons that my
daughter learned was to finish what you start, and not to quit and give up even
if you are not the best player on the team.
Included in my sons, life lessons are; it takes team-work, practice,
determination, and to trust in the judgment of their coaches.
Life-lessons
learned during the maturing years will continue to impact your life in the
years to come. Today, I'd like to share
a touching story from the book Finish Strong: Teen Athlete by author Dan Green. The book identifies 16 key principles for
developing the champion within. No matter which sport is played, any teen
athlete (male or female) can learn from it.
Finish Strong: Teen
Athlete is a follow-up to Mr. Green’s best-selling book Finish Strong
(the book and the mantra the New Orleans Saints (NFL football team) used along their
journey to become the 2009 Super Bowl Champions). The story is called "Respect Will Carry
You Home."
Respect Will Carry You Home
Western Oregon University's Sara Tucholsky had no idea that the first – and, as it turns out, only – home run of her career would cause ripples that would make her last swing of the bat as a college softball player a national media sensation. With two runners on and her team down a run to Central Washington University, Sara hit a home run to centerfield. As she rounded first base, she missed the bag. When she turned to tag the base, she injured her knee. Able only to crawl back to the base, Sara was told that she would be called out if her teammates came to her aid. If a pinch runner checked into the game, her home run would count only as a single.
Players and fans alike were stunned when Central
Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman, the conference's all-time home run
leader, asked the umpire if there was any rule against opponents helping an
injured player around the bases. She was
told that there was not. Together, Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace picked up
Tucholsky and carried her around the bases, stopping at each bag to allow Sara
to touch it with her good leg. "It was the right thing to do,"
Holtman said in an interview on national television, after the respectful act
of sportsmanship had been witnessed by millions on ESPN and had become a
YouTube sensation.
The three runs sent Western Oregon to a 4-2
victory, ending Central Washington's chances of winning the conference and
advancing to the playoffs.
"It's a great story," Western Oregon
coach Pam Knox said, "something I'll never forget – the game's about
character and integrity and sportsmanship, and it's not always about winning
and losing."
As it turns out, the players who helped Sara had
no idea of the circumstances surrounding the at-bat, or that the story would
make headlines around the country. "We didn't know that she was a senior
or that this was her first home run," Wallace said. "That makes the
story more touching than it was. We just wanted to help her." The gesture
left Sara's Western Oregon teammates in tears. "I hope I would do the same
for her in the same situation," Sara said. Central Washington coach Gary
Frederick called the act of sportsmanship "unbelievable."
"In the end, it is not about winning and
losing so much," Holtman, who initiated the act, said. "It was about
this girl. She hit it over the fence and was in pain, and she deserved a home
run."
Today,
reflect on the life-lessons that you have learned—even if you never
participated in sports, and remember when you cannot make it on your own God will
always send someone to help you—He will not leave you alone.
Prayer—Father I thank You for all that I have
learned and that I can trust you to send someone to help me when I need it, in
Jesus Name. Amen.
