Why I Quit High School Football
Producing a successful team requires an extensive amount of strategy planning, efficiency, and execution. However, not all teams are successful. My high school football team was an example of an unsuccessful team. Like most kids that play football in the neighborhood, I had a dream of playing in the NFL. As elusive as that goal is, I decided to give it a try in high school and joined the team. I was one of the fastest kids in the neighborhood and figured I would be a good prospect. However, when my friend, who was already on the football team, introduced me to the coach, he had an apathetic attitude and basically put me on the team without even a tryout. The coach’s lack of compassion for the game was the root of the problem. I’m not a full-fledged football fanatic, but I do care if my team wins or loses. The coach couldn’t care less if I was as fast as Carl Lewis or Usain Bolt, for that matter. A leader of a team must show extreme drive and determination whether the odds are against you or not. The next practice, I showed up and there will no sign of promise with the team. The coach wasn’t even there, that I knew of. He basically had his favorites that took over the practice as if they were the coach. The practice was extremely disorganized and lacked any inspiration. The main reason our team wasn’t successful is probably the fact that the coach did have his favorites and the best players weren’t playing the most appropriate positions. I played with the team for a short while, but I eventually quit the team to pursue my love of music and played in a few bands. The team ended up winning only one or two games that year and never really had a successful season since.
Years later, I had a friend that was on the same team and they didn’t even win a single game that year. According to Khoshhal and Guraya (2016), “leaders have the ability to identify needs and devise action plans to achieve their intended targets in improving a situation or setting. Leaders can articulate problems clearly, and bring peers on board in addressing the identified concerns and issues. Leaders have a vision of what they want the future to look like and the measures that they need to take in order to realize that vision. Leaders are able to inculcate an environment of teamwork and to delegate the job to the qualified team members. Leaders do not create followers, rather they create more leaders. An effective leader acknowledges the team members for a job well done, regardless of whether the team was able to completely reach the set goals, or not.” I’m glad I gave it a shot, but it just didn’t work out with football. I still watch football games and usually root for the underdog. I was very glad when the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl.
Reference
Khoshhal, K. I., & Guraya, S. Y. (2016). Leaders produce leaders and managers to produce followers. A systematic review of the desired competencies and standard settings for physicians’ leadership. Saudi medical journal, 37(10), 1061–1067. https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2016.10.15620
