Last year on July 4th, I was depressed. Despite a healthy baby, a beautiful partner and the best kinds of friends — my beloved Utah Jazz were reeling. Gordon Hayward had left the team. The newspaper led with this headline: But it’s not just a player that the Utah Jazz are losing in his departure — it’s a setback, perhaps a crippling one, to a plan six years in the making.
We’re fucked…I thought.
But then, we weren’t. Donovan Mitchell decided to become a bonafide NBA superstar about 18 months after leaving high school. Alrighty then. The Jazz regrouped and went on to have a remarkable season.
About three weeks after Gordon left, Mitch called me up and, over an emotional chat, told me that he was leaving the seat of Beehive commissioner for a different seat. I think he thought I’d be angry. I was anything but. He took over during a tumultuous time in my life and led Beehive to a stronger place than where he found it. I’m eternally grateful to his efforts.
And for a minute, with a new baby and an already full plate…I thought, we’re fucked.
And then, just like Donovan, Collin decided to become the next Beehive commissioner. He took over full time on January 1st, 2018 and has been straight up killing it ever since. Stay tuned for a highlight reel of his early Beehive efforts.
But before we go there…
I’m so overwhelmingly proud of the people in our budding community. When things change, they adjust. When people leave, new ones step up. The mantra “next man up” has become popular in the sports nomenclature, I’m pretty sure they stole it from Beehive. Because, somehow someway, when things change…there’s another man or woman ready to step up.
Follow me over here so I can show you…
- Mitch became Collin and we didn’t skip a beat.
- Krystin’s prom planning work was seamlessly taken up by Maggie, Katie and Josh. Watch the 2018 Beehive Hall of Fame inductee videos here!
- Pete Hemingway has taken the social media content to yet another level above whatever you’d call what I used to do there.
- We have a board of directors (Jordan, Lindsey and Greg) whose effectiveness make the 2013 board look like a Trump staff meeting.
- We lost a few people who refereed a lot of sports last year. Cody, Emma, Alix, Bryant, Forrest and Allyson (reffing well into her 3rd trimester!!) all said “yup” when we asked for help filling those slots.
My controversial hypothesis for today…every organization on Earth is defined by it’s attitude toward change.
How often do you see the layout of Walmart change? How often do you hear about the NRA supporting reasonable gun control measures after (yet another) school shooting?
And vice versa…
How does the Human Rights Campaign respond when another state outlaws LGBTQ hospital visitation rights? What happened to Netflix when people stopped wanting to wait 2 days for a DVD to arrive in the mail?
Change is inevitable. Our strength as humans is put on display when things change. The ability to greet change with a smile is not taught in school. I’m not sure how one develops an aptitude for it. But seeing this community constantly embrace change, pick each other up, cheer each other on and happily march forward over the last 7 years is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
I guess that’s my message this year, thanks for greeting change of all sorts with a smile. It continually pumps fresh blood into the motto “Meet People, Have Fun, Play Sports.”
In the last year alone, a lot has changed.
- We’ve changed parks (Sugarhouse, Riverside, Fisher)
- We’ve changed shirts (I love them and I hope you do too)
- We’ve changed prizes and added banners.
- We’ve changed up our events (tennis and private happy hours)
- We’ve changed commissioners (see above)
- We’ve changed rules (lady pitching in kickball)
Much of that change is a testament to Collin Wallace. He’s taken the keys to the shed and run with them. His enthusiasm is other worldly. His appetite for improving this place we call home is infectious. I’m in awe of him. I hope you send him a note of thanks. He’s busting his ass for us.
I can’t end this letter without a nod to what hasn’t changed. Jimmy hasn’t changed. Getting “jimbo’d” still means the same thing. The captains of Beehive haven’t changed. Their still as friendly and fun-ky as ever.
And perhaps most importantly, the mission hasn’t changed. It never will. We get up everyday to create a casual and comfortable space for adults to meet each other through sports. I’m still as determined to be at Wednesday night kickball on my 100th birthday as I was in 2011 when all this awesomeness was just a desert mirage.
As the year winds forward and change continues to remake our league, will you be the next man or woman to step up?
And if you care to look back into the abyss…my letter from 2016, and 2015.
