By: Camaury Washington
First off let’s start off by saying it feels great to be back. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, not Christmas either; Softball Season. The season where diving into walls, and sliding head first into someone’s entire body is legal and not frowned upon. I must admit the most exciting thing, is doing all of those great things with a “DOUBLE TEE” on my jersey!
That’s right, Texas Tech Softball is in full swing. We’re ready to go, and with only a few weeks to prepare before this year’s season begins we’re off to a perfect start. The girls and I returned back to, “HUB CITY” as they call it, on January 13, 2016, to begin our team retreat. A retreat in which consisted of 5 days of hard work, extreme competitiveness, and an uncontainable feeling to be the best.
Each day had its own theme, and with the theme followed a full day of activities that both mentally and physically strengthened us a team. Though my sleeping schedule was thrown off, and my morning breath may have hindered a few teammates from fully paying attention, it was a huge success.
We had three inspirational speakers come encourage and applaud us for the steps we have taken and are going to take as a team thus far. Those speakers were, the honorable Marsha sharp; (who by the way is best at holding her tears back when giving the most ground-shaking, most inspirational speeches of her coaching days! There were many times where she said “and I may get emotional,” but I never saw one sign of a tear, I have got to ask her how she does that so well.
There was Coach Tom Stone, Texas Tech’s head coach of the soccer team, congrats on a great year by the way coach. If there was nothing else I learned from him it was definitely how to say the first thing that comes to mind, and completely OWN it. Thanks Coach Stone.
And finally Kirby Hocutt, our Athletic Director here at The Texas Tech University. Kirby reassured us as players and a staff that our hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. The team and I appreciate you. By the way, adding snack vending machines in the Marsha Sharp center would be great! Thanks Kirby!
After the fifth day of the retreat, we celebrated with a team camping trip this past weekend, just to clear our heads, and take some time to relax. Although I’m not sure how relaxed I was after hearing the coyotes.
We arrived at Palo Duro Canyon Saturday January 23rd. After the arrival we all set up our tents and went on a team hike through the woods. If getting thorns stuck in your calf, and making new bridges out of trees for people to cross years from now, was an award to win, we’d be the people to nominate. The team hike showed me that no matter where we go, or how we get there, it’s all a team effort, and unless everyone plays their part, there is no way we can be successful. Learning and understanding our role whether it’s holding your coaches shoes so she can assist the team cross a log, or shinning a flashlight to prevent running into a tree, everybody has something to contribute.
Making it to the top of the canyon was an amazing adventure, until I decided my jacket flying away was more important than life. All in all, the camping trip was a total success and everyone came back in one piece. Thankfully.
As the days flew by at our retreat, I begin to notice a certain light around the softball facility. Something was different. Something sparked a bit brighter, or maybe the maintenance man just installed new lightbulbs. On a serious note I think we tapped into our inner greatness, and begin to realize that each day was a new opportunity to show our God Given gifts, and prove the reason for us being chosen to represent the Double T. What may have seemed as a dreadful trip back to school early, only turned out to be the revealing of our true destiny.
We ARE and WILL be the best team on and off the field. We will work hard any and every time we get the opportunity to. Settling for anything other than the brand we build and create is mediocre, and that’s not just me saying that, we’ve all established that. From practicing how to dog pile, to sweating and catching our breath after a 45 minutes of nonstop drills; it was all worth it. The laughs, the bad thoughts, chasing our head coach around the field to poor an entire cooler of ice cold water on her in 45 degrees weather, (sorry about that coach, you earned it), and we all grew stronger.
We left this retreat with a clearer perspective on what our brand is, and anything below our standard, just will not fly. This was the first year of the retreat before season begins, and quite frankly next year I won’t accept anything different. Let’s make it an annual thing coach!
See you soon,
-Yours truly, Cam Washington
Ps: Robbing Home run balls is definitely something I’m great at.
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