During the off-season before my senior year in high
school, our new varsity basketball coach
found the team picture from my freshman year.
We looked so young, so scrawny and un-athletic in the photo. As we all stood around, he started naming
everyone and stating their role on the team as told to him by our old freshman
coach.
My freshman year in high school, I started every district
game for the Freshman "A" team, but when the new coach got to
describing me in the picture he said "..and there's Miller.. #12, your old
coach says you were the sixth man - first off the bench."
With a dozen or more guys around, I immediately corrected
the new coach in front of all my classmates stating clearly that I was a
starter that year. Later, after the
group broke apart, I was left standing there a bit embarrassed that I had been
so quick to clarify my role. In that
moment, it was more about me and less about team. The distinction wasn't that important. He was showing us the photo to get a good
laugh and to show us how far we'd come, not to create classes of athletes by announcing
who was a star, who was a starter, and who had a role off the bench.
Another #12, Jordan McArdle wears the same ring Jill Ivy
does. And every freshman on the 2015
Ladyjack Volleyball squad would do well to remember that given that McArdle is
part of a key leadership team initiated
by head coach Debbie Humphreys this year.
McArdle is a role model. She's a role
model in the pure sense of the phrase due to her leadership qualities. But, she is also a role model in the strict sense
of the phrase in that she has accepted her limited playing role with grace and
purpose.
If you have a Facebook account, do yourself a favor. Take one minute (literally, the video is one
minute long) and watch Herm Edwards, former NFL coach and now ESPN analyst,break down what it means to accept your role.
I thought Edwards was dead on and I specifically asked Jordan her
thoughts on the issue in the interview you'll see.
I'm not going to be surprised if Jordan McArdle sees the court
more often this year than she did last.
But, in case she doesn't... don't think for a minute that she doesn't
embrace her role. Don't think for a
moment that she is any less of a leader than Olson or Bates. Don't minimize players like McArdle. The ring she wears should serve to remind you
what she is and what she accomplished.
Team First. Wins and
losses and championships are not individual things. McArdle is a champion and
SFA Volleyball is darn lucky to have her.