I walked into the hockey locker room not knowing what to expect. We had suffered a tough loss the night before due to our selfish performance. The coach’s door was shut, my teammates were frozen in silence, but the most noticeable detail was the pile of brand new nameplates in the bottom of the old dented trashcan. The only name on our nameplate now was our team. From that point on we didn’t look at ourselves as individuals. From that point on we were a team.

The lesson my coach taught me about being a leader began when we lost the state championship my freshman year. When the playoffs began our coach told us in order to win it would take a team effort. The first line would not score the winning goal; the third line that would score that goal. I was on the third line. Throughout the season my role was to learn from the upperclassman. I was told I would not truly know what it means to be part of a team until my senior year. Under the spot light in the third game of the finals, our team fell apart. We drew behind two goals and our team gave up. We stopped playing for each other and with the passion to win as a team. The seniors lost trust in the underclassman. This was frustrating to me. My line had not done anything wrong, but it was clear the seniors did not want to give us an opportunity. I felt like I let down the rest of the team. At that point I had not yet learned what it meant to play as a team.

I could not carry the loss with me forever. My sophomore year, the seniors made different choices. They showed me the difference between playing as a team and playing as individuals. But it wasn’t until my junior year when the lessons really started to make sense. I now had two years of varsity experience. My junior year was my time to prove to coach and my teammates that I had what it took to lead the team. I now experienced two year of varsity experience. My junior year was my time to prove to coach and my teammates that I had what it takes to lead the team. After loosing a big senior core, I knew this year was going to take hard work, passion and determination from each player. That is what our coach was trying to instill in us the day he removed our nameplates. We are one group.

  After the speech regarding our nameplates the attitude of the team changed. Despite being a young team, I was able to realize the individual player did not matter; it was how we worked together. After the discussion regarding the nameplates we were able to play with the strength and attitude that was needed to carry us back to the state championship.

The championship series was forced into a win or the season is over situation.  It was all on the line. Once again, just like freshman year, late in the third period we fell behind. If we gave up we would loose the championship. I couldn’t let that happen. With minutes left in the game our coach looked to the upperclassman to lead. As a junior I took more responsibility and didn’t get down on the underclassman as the upperclassman once did to me. After the lessons I have learned during my career I knew it would take all members of the team to succeed.  I was able to trust the under classman, they were part of the team. Our confidence to stick together as a team was tremendous and lead to our victory. We were state champions. After raising the trophy together and falling into a disorganized pile of shouts and cheers. I knew what the year was really all about. I had finally gotten a taste of what it felt like to be a part of a team.