By Steve Mayer
Along with most of our community, I watched with great pride and admiration as our girls played in 2013 Little League World Series in Portland, Ore.
The girls showed themselves to be masters of their game. They competed with the best softball teams in the world and did so with grace, sportsmanship and excellence. This accomplishment is not only worthy of praise, but stands as a shining example of what it takes to rise to our very best.
Winning at this level requires years of practice, and endless hours on the softball diamond. Yet our girls played on the biggest stage in youth softball. As they prepare for another school year, I trust that they will find solace in their accomplishment and will permit the rest of us to learn from them.
To be the best at anything requires hard work and an intense level of personal commitment. When they started playing softball around the ages of 5 or 6, it is likely that these youngsters looked up to their 2008 and 2010 sister teams that preceded them to the World Series. They probably wondered if they would ever rise to such a level. Surely, their coaches seized upon these occasions to hold up the older girls as role models.
Striving to be the best may well mean postponing vacation plans to meet training demands. It may mean declining invitations to socialize with friends in order to battle the sweltering heat on the diamond. It definitely means practicing and practicing until the game flows automatically. This is true in softball and it is true in life. As a school district we value emotional and academic competence as ways for students to achieve their personal aspirations and dreams. This does not happen by chance, nor would it happen in the absence of hard work, dedication, determination and drive.
The girls also taught us that team matters. Just as we cannot compete at the highest of levels alone, we cannot change the world alone. Every good pitcher needs fielders to make the outs, and every good hitter needs another good hitter behind her to score the runs. And every team member needs good coaches and mentors. Similarly, school communities are also multifaceted. Everyone has an integral role to play. A world class team depends upon and trusts its team members. The same is true for us in school. We are at our best when we work together and when we value the contributions of every member.
Finally, the 2013 Robbinsville All Stars taught us that the journey is as important as the outcome. The road to Oregon was filled with trials and triumphs. It is easy to imagine that exiting the tournament one game short of the championship felt disappointing, which itself is an interesting phenomenon. The girls played better than nearly every softball team in the world, yet for a few moments felt disappointed in the outcome of their journey. In hindsight and with time, I am sure they will come to realize that the most important thing about a journey is that its overall trajectory leads upward. The girls played along a path that took them to great heights. This upward trajectory is similar to the journey we are on as a school district, and one that sets an exceptional example for each of us.
We are very proud of the 2013 World Series softball team, as we are of the other championship caliber teams in Robbinsville that played this past year as part of our town’s winning tradition. The hard work it takes to compete at the highest levels in sports serves as an inspiration for us as we strive to compete at the highest levels academically. If we learn our lessons well, we, too, will journey to the highest levels.
Steve Mayer is superintendent of the Robbinsville school district.
