“When all is said and done, it’s not the shots that won the championship that you remember, but the friendships you made along the way.” – unknown
I gave this quote to the high school girls interested in playing basketball this year. Not because I don’t think winning is important, it is the end goal when you are on the court, but it’s the time throughout the season, when players work and grow as a team, that really counts.
In college our team beat the University of Montana to win the conference championship where we advanced and played in the first round of the NCAA tournament. I can never remember what team we played, Oregon or Oregon State, because you know what? It doesn’t matter who we played. What does matter, are all the lessons I learned, and all the friendships I gained along the way. I have teammates that even after 20+ years have gone by, would have my back in any situation.
A former teammate was in my wedding, another, a massage therapist, helped bring me back to life after my body was broken in an accident years ago, and just last week, I road-tripped with an old teammate from that college championship team. We went to an Alumni basketball event and a book signing for my memoir, Back on the Court. And even though we have a history together, we hardly talked of the past, instead our years of bonding as teammates allowed us to enjoy one another on a deeper level, and to share our hopes and dreams for the future.
Being a part of a team is not always easy, but the rewards are priceless.
