Sunday Night With John: Failed My First Crowd

I was 19 and returning from Christmas break when I found out my college would be closing at the end of spring semester. I was back earlier than most of the student body due to being on the basketball team. Coach gathered us together and let us now he would help us navigate the process of finding new schools and schools that wanted us to be a part of their basketball team. It wasn't a good feeling know I would be starting the process of finding a place where I felt like I fit in and could grow. 

It was evident after our first game we would struggle as a team, as now we all wanted more playing time to show the next school we could perform. Three or four of us pouted openly on the bench with our body language and verbally in the locker room. My dad's lessons on team work and being a teammate kicked in by the end of the night and I promised I would be a better person for the rest of the season and attempt to pull the team together. 

The next pre-game meeting before running out of the locker room, I spoke up about rallying around the fact their would never be another Marycrest team after us. We played better but we were still a fractured group. Mainly two guys on the team continued to pout about playing time and continued to show more and more frustrations with every game. I went to the seniors on the team and asked to talk with them. They declined, I asked the assistant coach what to do and he said hold a team bonding night.  

I organized a laser tag event after practice with everyone showing up but the two guys who continued to fracture the team. We had a good night that night and everyone talked about pulling together and setting aside personal stuff for one more run as the team from Marycrest.  It didn't last long due to the two guys who couldn't sacrifice for the the team. The worst part was, that instead of talking about it we continued a slow death of silence. About 8 of us complained about these two when they weren't around and then said nothing when they were around.  

I continued to lead by speaking before games and rallying the troops. I learned I could hold a crowd's attention because no one interrupted me. I learned I had the gift of words and the ability to string them together to impact others. As the season dwindled down, we put up less of a fight, and the last Marycrest team broke apart.  

All these years later, I carry with me the lesson of two people who were reluctant listeners. They taught me the value of creating a talk, and interacting in a way where my words can reach those don't think they need them.  A talk has to challenge the listener to confront themselves, ponder life, and think about their place with their in community, family and teams. While I failed my first crowd, my basketball team,  it gave me great insight to the hard work it takes to be a great speaker.