The other day, my sister’s children were in the league championship swim meet. The league was composed of a few local public swim clubs. Her children are very good swimmers and have very good results. At the end of the meet, my sister noticed that the best swimmer from one of the other teams was in four events when the rule states that each swimmer could only be in three events. Because of this, my sister’s children’s team won by two points. Good for her and good for the team.
But what about the bad side? What about the coach who did this? Was it a mistake or was it done on purpose? Regardless, his actions demonstrate terrible leadership.
Lost in who won or who lost is the message that they sent to the swimmer who sat on the bench and should have swum while the best swimmer swam? In the recounting of the story, no one mentioned this young child. No one knew what he felt or how he handled the situation. If that was my child, I would want to know why the coaches did not tell him directly that he wasn’t good enough to swim in the final event and that they were going to have someone else swim in his place. It might sound harsh, but if you cannot be honest with my children, then you do not get to interact with them.
Growing up, I was usually one of the last people picked for teams. In retrospect, it was fair as I was not a very good athlete. To be fair, I never dedicated myself to getting better. I loved playing sports, but it was for social interactions and not the competitive nature of sports. When I was not picked last, I felt pretty good about myself.
When I was younger, probably around 11 or 12, I went to a local summer camp. From what I remember, it was a lot of fun. One afternoon, we were playing stickball. It was coming down to our last out, we had runners on the bases and we were down a run. The camper who was picked last was next to bat. One of the older kids tried to bat out of order. He was caught, and by rule, he was out for batting out of order. The other team celebrated and we were dejected. None more dejected than the camper who was picked last. Looking at his face, it was evident that he was devastated and embarrassed. I can still see his face today.
I do not know what happened to that young man. I hope that he turned out well. I apologize for my role that day. Not because I tried to cheat at his expense, at the cost of his dignity, but because I did nothing to stand up and stop it.
Everyday is an Interview 