Athlete Of The Year: Then And Now

If someone were to ask you, what does the words "Athlete Of The Year" mean to you, what would you say?   I am sure that MOST people would imagine that an athlete of the year would be a star athlete of some kind:  Michael Jordan, Dwayne Wade, or someone along those lines.

If I were asked, I would have probably thought the same thing.  Yet, 20+ years ago, I was awarded the "Athlete Of The Year" award by my high school.  It was a great way to cap my athletic career and senior year in high school.  

For quite a time after receiving the award, I remember telling a friend that I didn't feel like I deserved the award.  After all, from the standpoint of athletic accomplishments, I was not a stand out athlete in either of the sports I participated in.  It took my friend sometime to convince me that I was deserving of the award.  After all, there were some reason it was given to me.

Recently, with the 20th Anniversary of my high school graduation passing, I thought about the Athlete Of The Year award and what it meant to me.   I am quite proud of the award as it not only represented my time athletically in high school but also the great senior year I had.  I became friends with someone I would grow close to and I had a great academic year as well.

Additionally, I decided to look up what criteria is used to determine an "Athlete Of The Year".  Interestingly, unlike Most Valuable Player awards, athletic accomplishments isn't necessarily a requirement.  Some of the criteria included leadership, commitment to the team and academic performance.

Looking back, I see WHY I was given the award:

1.
I was captain for one my teams and a three year vet on my other team.

2.
I showed complete dedication to both my teams and provided a good example.  This is just not me bragging as both my teams gave me the "Coaches Award" during my senior year.

3.
I was NOT a good student throughout my high school career and yet I had a 3.2 or above GPA throughout my senior year.

4.
I was a volunteer basketball coach for my old grammar school.

It's funny how someone's perspective changes over the years.  I don't talk much about an award I got 20 years ago.  However, besides my high school and college diplomas, I put my Athlete Of The Year award as one of the items I am most proud of.

I also see a trend in all of my awards.  Besides my Most Improved Player award, all my other awards involved me being a good example to others (Two Coaches Awards, Four Most Inspirational Player awards).   I definitely try (and don't always succeed) in being a good example to people young and old.

It is good that I have been recognized for it, though I have never asked for it.

Most Inspirational Player / Inspiring Others

Last night, my Monday night summer basketball league kicked off it's playoffs with an exciting evening of action.  The Green team (3rd seed) led most of the game before a furious rally by Orange (2nd seed) in the 4th quarter to take a 1 point lead.  Alas, Orange could not hang on as Green eventually won by 4 points.   Playing the second game, My team (Black - 1st seed) led pretty much the whole way but Grey (4th seed) battled hard.  My team barely pulled away for a 7 point win to join Green in next's week championship game.

In between the two games, the league passed out some awards.  The awards were for the Most Inspiration Player for each of the five teams that participated during the summer.   In a bit of a surprise, I was given the award for my team.  

I've had some personal things I've been dealing with for a few months now.  I've had my good days and some not so good days.   Basketball was a good get away, whether I was playing on my Monday / Tuesday night leagues (during the summer) for my Saturday pick up games with some friends.

However, getting the award this particular summer was special.   I needed a "pick me up" and the award made me feel good.  It's not that I needed something external to make me feel better.  In fact, the trophy I got isn't a big deal.   It was the fact that the trophy made me reflect and clarified some things I need to improve on for the future.

While I am generally cool headed on the court and don't take things personally when someone makes a mistake, I am MUCH harder on myself both on the court and in personal things.   I realized I need to take a step back in some of my personal things and be more understanding when things don't go right.

The other thing I realized that I am very blessed in many ways though I haven't been feeling that way a lot lately.   I realized that I need to use some of my gifts to (no pun intended) INSPIRE others.

The reason I thought I needed to inspire others is that this was NOT my first Most Inspirational Player award.   I've gotten a few awards over the years and I detected there may be a trend.  Life may be telling me that I need be more of a good example to others ON and OFF the court.