Get to Know Your Teammates and Athletes

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I am finally back from Kitchener, Ontario where I was helping the Canadian athletes prepare for the Olympic Games. All the teams that were at the Tri-Nations Cup (Japan, Australia, and Canada) are now in Vancouver for the Canada Cup. So, I flew back yesterday (and about 500 emails waiting to be read).  As I arrived, the first thing I did was to head to my mom's to get my two cats (two 18-month-old females). You see, since i was gone 10 days, I thought it would be a better thing to have them stay with my mom for that period  of time. The other option was to leave them at my place with my mom visiting every few days to check on them. I opted for the first option of leaving them at her place. That was the wrong decision. My two cats spent the entire 10 days hidden in the basement and were unfindable. My mom looked for them repeatedly but couldn't find them (her basement is the best place for cats to play hide and seek). The other reason why they probably wanted to stay hidden was that my mom has a dog even though the dog didn't really care about them and wasn't into chasing them at all. She knew they were there because they ate the food and used the litter. I arrived yesterday and I couldn't find them either. So, after 3 hours looking for them, I left without them to go back to my place because I was really tired (read me tomorrow to know more about sleep). I was really sad since I missed them. We agreed that whenever one of them would come out, she would lock her in the bathroom for me to come back and get her.

That's what happened later. She found Tornado, one my two cats in the basement's bathroom. So, last night, I went back to my mom's and recovered her. She meowed the whole time back while in her cage. Since she got back to my place, she hasn't stopped following me around and looking for affection. Every 5 minutes, she comes over. She was affection-deprived big time. However, we are still missing the other one… Bottom line is… I have learned my lesson and will not do that again in the future. I had the best intentions but it turned out, that wasn't the best solution for them. They would rather be left alone at home in an environment they know with someone visiting once in a while to check on them and make sure they have food and water left.

How does this relate to softball? You see, each athlete is different and as teammates and coaches, we must learn to know each of them. Nobody reacts the same way to the same thing. Frictions and conflicts often arise from misunderstandings of each other in emotionally-driven circumstances. Figuring out someone is no easy task but it is an important part of being a teammate and a coach.  Knowing how someone reacts in a given situation or context will help the team function better and help that given athlete perform better. That's why team-building exercises held outside of softball contexts (games, practices, etc.) where you get to learn more about your teammates/athletes are very powerful. The best coaches are the ones that adapts to each and every one of their athlete and the best team captains are the ones who know how to handle each and every one of their teammates. Get to know everybody on your team and how they react in any given situation.