The Forgotten Team

The final whistle blows. Scenes of one team celebrating, while the other team is left in tears.

After those scenes of the the losing players emotionally leaving the field no one ever wants to focus on the team that lost. To some degree it is understandable if one feels that the only team that should get attention is the victorious one, after all they did win.

However, after IMS's semi-final loss to Loyola, the amount of emotions and thoughts simultaneously occurring is the most intense and real aspect of the end of a playoff game.

So many questions arising in players' heads you could almost feel them thinking, as I looked into their eyes in the locker room. Questions like, "could I have done more?", "How could I have made that play differently?" and "Is this really it?" were all being processed at the same time.

All of this was clearly mentally and emotionally draining and tensions begin to rise causing two players to have a confrontation that had to be settled down by other players and myself intervening.

I looked around the room and I could see several people crying and yet I could draw absolutely no emotions what so ever. I must admit that at one point I tried to force a tear or two just to feel something. However, I could muster nothing, I was emotionally shocked. The only time I can remember having a similar emotion is when one of my close friends from high school suddenly died.

This emotional blankness allowed me to focus on other people in the room. Two of our players pouring out tears, others just sitting in their lockers looking absolutely dejected. Coaches who sacrificed so, much now fighting back tears.

Slowly players began to exit the locker room, until one group remained. I will never forget the senior member of that small group, face blank, and his eyes moving ever so slightly as he was working out the questions arising in his head.



 You could see him starting to work out, in his head whether or not this was the end of his competitive playing career. A question that must be worked out by every player at some point in their final year. For some, the decision is made easy for them because they know whether or not they can make it at the next level, and they adjust accordingly. Yet for this senior it was not that simple.

While I observed you think about what must be going through each player's mind. I thought about how hard they worked in preseason up until this point; the sacrifices they made.

As the last of the players left the locker room, I remembered what one of my two closest friends said to me after he was denied the national college boxing championship, "The worst thing is that no one knows how much harder I worked than everyone else this year. No one realizes how hard I worked myself to win that belt and they took it from me and no one cares." I finally understood exactly how he felt.

 Below are the seniors from this years team. Where ever you end up, I thank you for the tremendous impact you have had and will continue to have on my coaching career

Mike Jordan (MJ)

Robbie Krohmer (Robbo/Diesel)

Doug Stephens (Dougie Fresh)

Alvaro Torrecilla (Torre/Al)

Ansger Otto (Otto)