I am for the first time in my adult life participating in organized sports and it has been instructive.
While
sports are a common activity for most boys growing up, I was bookish
and aloof. “Looks painful,” I said. “Everything keeps changing
so fast,” I said.
And
I was right. Sports are painful and confusing. In addition they are
loud and boisterous and take a lot of time & effort to get good
at.
And
that's the whole point.
Now
that I have (finally) entered sports I am impressed by how much they
have to offer. Pretty much everything I disliked about sports is in
fact a benefit, an opportunity.
Let's
break it down.
Teamwork
Yeah,
yeah, teamwork. Go team. But despite the patina of snake oil
smeared on “teamwork” by the business world the concept has a lot
going for it.
Are
you contributing or not? Solitary pursuits either do not critically
measure the participant or allow him to fudge the measurement. Team
sports require players to measure up and the value players provide is
reflected in teammate trust on the field.
Do
you understand what is going on in people's minds? Knowing the game
is one thing, knowing what to do in it is another. There is little
time to coordinate in the field so success hinges on teammates
possessing shared goals and the ability to coordinate on the fly. If
you don't know what your teammate is thinking, you can't perform.
Planning
“...plans
are useless but planning is indispensable.” ~ General Eisenhower
It
is difficult to know what the “right” move is. There is rarely
time to determine what will happen and then react to it.
Players
often need multiple plans in their pockets to choose between on the
fly, and must be devising new ones as the play evolves.
Are
you a player, or a spectator? If you're not in the audience, don't
act like it.
Movement
So
what if you don't know exactly where to be? Few do. Choosing to
move leads to other choices. Are you a pig passively accepting
whatever slop gets tossed over the fence? No; you are going and
getting.
When
in doubt, move. If something was going to happen where you are it
would have already happened.
Initiative
Waiting
for things to happen is waiting to lose. The best way to predict the
future is to make it happen.
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