So You Didn’t Make The Team

Now what do you do? The coach said “you’re not what we’re looking for” or “keep working and one day you’ll be at this level”. Those things can either discourage you or motivate you. The choice is yours.

No matter what the coach said to you, no matter how nice they were, it still hurts to hear — that you’re not good enough. Because I too, had coaches tell me I just wasn’t what they were looking for. How could they not see how hard I tried? Why didn’t they see my potential? Then… you start second guessing yourself. Do I even have potential? Am I good enough to even play anymore?

It sucked being the one who wasn’t pulled aside. The player who received a one line email stating I just wasn’t what they were looking for. I was raw. My hitting instructor was whoever coached me at that time. I never knew the terminology of half the skills that were required to play at the “next level”. I was a nobody. A kid who played for her local hometown team. A kid whose dad watched Mike Candrea videos. My only critiquing of fundamentals came from attending all those college camps.

That fall I didn’t have a team. I put all my eggs in one basket (p.s. I don’t suggest you do that) and the only team I tried out for, I was cut from. But looking back, I thank those coaches who cut me. The ones who couldn’t see my potential. Because of them, I became more determined than I was before. I was out to prove them wrong, and when I did. It felt great! And when you do, you’ll feel great too.

The day I signed my NLI to play DI softball was the day I showed those coaches, just how foolish they were to not take a chance on the small kid who was fundamentally raw.

Welcome to life and all its challenges.

Your whole life you’ll come across people who can’t see you for what you’re worth. As a woman, you’ll face more challenges than your male counterparts whether you know it or not. You will always be held to a higher standard than the boys. You’re whole life you’ll have barriers, obstacles, and glass ceilings. You have 2 choices; you can use those as a measure of how far you’ll get OR you can use those to motivate you to reach even further!

You are the only person who can determine what you do after being cut. No one has power over you, unless you give it to them.