I started playing softball when I was five. Technically, it was more like a bunch of frazzled coaches attempting to teach a dozen little girls how to field a ground ball when all the girls wanted to do was lay down in the outfield grass and search for ladybugs.
But as I actually started to learn the sport for real, I fell in love with the game and it became a huge part of my life. I spent 13 years of my life playing that game. I spent hours in the car driving to practices and tournaments and tryouts, and hundreds of dollars on equipment and private lessons.
I was over the moon when I finally made my school's varsity team during my junior year. I was finally going to get the prized letterman and the other fancy stuff varsity players got ... except for the playing time. I spent a huge majority of my junior and senior seasons on the bench.
But I did end up learning some lessons along the way. Here are a few.
1. Patience.
When you're a player who is consistently on the bench, you have to do a lot of sitting and waiting. Sitting on the bus on the way to the game, sitting on the bench during the game, sitting through the post-game conference that has nothing to do with you, and then, to top it all off, another round of bus sitting. How thrilling. During the game, though, there is a chance that you might get called in to play and all your waiting will not have been in vain. You must keep this in mind when your butt starts to go numb from all the sitting it's been doing.
2. You become a good cheerleader.
There will be days where the only way you'll be able to contribute to the outcome of the game is through your spirit and enthusiasm. So you try and be the team's hypeman in order to feel more in the game. Personally, I was never very good at this one but I'm better at it now than I was coming into it. It's a good break from all the sitting.
3. You become a Gatorade/sunflower seed/bottled water connoisseur.
I spent my time on the bench creating a definitive ranking of sunflower seed flavors. You could probably do the same with other things as well such as Gatorade flavors or brands of bottled water. You've got a lot of time on your hands.
4. You learn the rules of the game really well.
You start picking up rules and noticing things that you wouldn't have noticed if you were actually playing. I used to try and figure out the opposing coaches' batting and pitching signs while I was sitting just to see if I could.
5. You make bench buddies.
People who sit on the bench get together because they know each other's struggle. The bench can be a lonely place, so bench buddies are a must. They'll be the ones cheering for you the loudest when you finally get to play and you'll do the same for them because both of you deserve it.
6. You truly learn what it means to be a team player.
Even though you might not contribute a ton to the game, you learn to do your part in whichever way you can. If that means keeping the bench nice and warm for your teammates, so be it. Sometimes what's best for the team comes before what individual people want, and that's just the way team sports work.
It sucks being stuck on the bench and not getting to play the game you worked so hard your whole life for, but there are lessons to be learned from spending some quality time "riding the pine."
