The Benchwarmer

The Benchwarmer

At first you think you’re good. Damn good maybe. You try out for the team and realize that there are many who are just as good maybe even better than you. You’re already doing your best but is it enough?  You make the cut. Whether barely or by a mile you’re not sure. At this point you’re just happy to make the team and you tell yourself that once you’re in you’ll work doubly hard to get playing time. Except that playing time seems hard to come by as you’re hardly in the rotation. You feel bad that you’re given scrub time but after awhile that even seems impossible.

You attend practice, team meetings, film viewing, you even dress up for every occasion but you seem to have been permanently grafted to the bench that it becomes embarrassing. You think that when the seniors graduate you’ll get your chance. Only they recruited some hotshot rookie and you’re all the more forgotten. You alternate between knowing, believing, and wondering if you can help during those wins and loses. Most especially the losses. After a while it’s the fire inside you lose.  You begin to busy yourself with other things.  “I’ll just study,” you console yourself but the truth is you’d rather be playing than burying yourself in textbooks and reams of notes. Yet you still stay with the team because for one, you’re excused from NSTP and it’s boss to get team jackets, uniforms, and shoes. Perks you know. Besides, college is expensive and whether you have a full or partial scholarship, you have to gut it out. Plus, it’s still cool to be a part of the team. Besides, you’ll never know when you might get playing time, right?

It’s hard to motivate players. Not everyone has his or her head screwed on right. Not everyone is focused on the same goal as you. Some are a part because there’s a certain cool to being in the varsity. But whether you’re the star or the scrub you want to play.

Most are timid. Accepting of what is. They are afraid to talk to the coach lest he misunderstand that you want more playing time. Has it ever occurred to you to do extra work? To bust your ass some more? Too often you give up easily and say that he never notices anyway.

Maybe it’s putting things in another perspective. If you want a car, what are the things you have to do to get one? Substitute that with playing time; what must you do to get some playing time. The funny thing is you suddenly realize that you have shortcomings in your game. But you never bothered to work on it before.

So what makes you think that you’ll get it now? It’s all about attitude and desire. It’s about hunger. Strength of character and focus. And dogged determination. It is said that sports is like life and vice versa. And how you approach the game is very much how you approach life and its challenges. So do you do something about that?

Unless you’ve grown comfortable burning a hole in your pants at the end of the bench.