The Play Doesn't Care Who Makes It

The Play Doesn’t Care Who Makes It

I miss coaching little league. Like, I really miss it. There was nothing better than walking out to the pitcher’s mound to get a 10-year-old to stop crying because he could not throw a strike. My secret was to always have a couple of jokes ready to get them to giggle, refocus, and reset.

Over the years, I have watched many videos on coaching, both sports coaching and life coaching. One day I came across a phrase that certainly is not new, but massively powerful. I heard a football coach tell his players, “The play doesn’t care who makes it.” Let’s have a think about this for a few moments. Games, matches, tournaments, spelling bees, you name it, are won, and lost in moments. Within those moments are ‘plays.’ A pitcher needs to throw a strike. A fielder needs to make a clean play to get the out. A quarterback must make the right read and the right throw. A defender must make a tackle. You get the idea. There are plays out there in every game. They do not care who makes them, they just need to be made. Player’s care. Some players whine if they do not get the ball enough. Some feel like they need to make the play to increase their brand. The play doesn’t care about someone’s brand. They are just dying to be made.

My friends, my playing days are long behind me. I was a goalkeeper in both soccer and ice hockey and believe me, I made (and missed) plenty of plays over the years. Fortunately, this isn’t an article about sports. This is not the Tribe of Sports Analogies. This is the Tribe of Up. Fellow tribes’ members, there are still untold volumes of ‘plays’ out there begging to be made that we can make. These plays won’t score or prevent touchdowns or goals but can help make the world just a little better for people both known and unknown. For the purposes of this conversation, let us change the article title with this…

Kindness doesn’t care who displays it. What if plays were merely acts of kindness? What if plays were substituted with virtuous deeds. Kind words. Generosity. Sincerity. These things don’t care who does them, they are just waiting for someone to do them. They are all around. A few weeks ago, I was driving my eighth grader to school on a Monday morning. Like more than a few Monday mornings, we were running a few minutes late. I’m not sure what it’s like in your town, but in Dexter, there is a school rush hour. It seems like we were crawling more than normal, and I admit, frustration was running high in my Monday morning brain. It seems like everyone on the main road was letting cars in off the side road, further slowing us down. My son, sensing my frustration, started laughing.

“What is so funny?” I asked him.

“I never realized so many people read your articles. Look at all these people being so nice.”

Talk about a sobering slap across the face. There were roads full of kindness waiting for people to ‘make the play’ and boy oh boy were people doing it. My mood changed instantly. I always let cars merge, but what an amazing reminder to witness kindness in its organic form by a 14-year-old.

The play doesn’t care who makes it. Kindness doesn’t care who does it. It is out there Tribe of Up. It is out there. Please take this as a much gentler reminder than my son gave me to slow down and look for a chance to make those plays. If we can do that, everyone wins!

Steve is a Dexter resident and the Owner, Playmaking Leader, Vice President of Car Mergers During School Rush Hour and Proud Father to a Teenager at Better Place Consulting, a success and career coaching company. Reach out to him at steve@betterplacemgmt.com.