Here Say is a project in community storytelling. We travel to a new place each week and ask people to share true stories about things we all experience: love, family, learning and more. To see where we've been, check out our interactive map. And to hear your favorite stories from last season, you can find our free podcast on iTunes.
We met Bill Howell, who was at the park after playing a softball match. He says he has the most fun with his team off the field.
“The camaraderie’s fun. I mean, we have a good time so we’re not so intense that of something goes our way, not our way, that it’s a problem. We can deal with that. We’re in an “old men’s league” and we’re even way older than most of the other teams. So we don’t win that many games, but we have a great time after the game. And the whole team sits down at that table over there and we drink a beer and talk about being old. We talk about things that happened long ago or we talk about losing our keys or the experience we had just dealing with things as we grow older. We talk about all sorts of things. We have a great time. We may not be the best in our league, but we have the best postgame.
As a member of the National Guard, Tracy Trabue has to deal with navigating the ups and downs of working with teams.
“So everybody thinks that their opinion is the correct opinion and so you butt heads quite a bit. It’s not until you really kinda, like I said, I was forced into a situation to get to know each other and realize that not only your chain of command comes into play, but this guy also may have a better idea than I do. So when you collaborate in that kind of mindset then it definitely works out for the better.
Vincent Hawkins is a minister at the Columbia International Church of Christ. He told us how he uses teamwork in his congregation.
“I have a unique, um, I guess you’d say advantage. I mean, we use the scriptures and the scriptures are very pro-cooperation, pro-relation or pro-teamwork you might say in some cases. And in some cases it requires even leadership, but still you’re usually leading a team or a group of people. So anyway, I have the scriptures as a motivator, but I will say, many of the people that come to our congregation, they’re part of, whether they’ve been on teams before or they work in current groups or teams. Cooperation is just, you can’t get through life without cooperating.
We talked to Kalie Jackson who coaches the MU Club Softball team. She says that being on a team sport helps you build life skills.
“I think that it builds a lot of character, for sure. I had a lot of friends that did individual sports growing up and you know, it makes them really hard and tough as an individual, but you don’t get that sense of responsibility for other people. When you let somebody down, it’s just yourself and I think it’s a lot more to carry on your shoulders. So I think that’s the biggest benefit that these girls have gotten. And you know I think it’s more difficult too. It’s more of a challenge. When you can’t control the other eight girls on the field. That’s hard. You have to communicate more. You have to play better. You have to stay positive because you affect everyone else. Whereas if it’s just you and you’re, if you’re a wrestler for instance. You’re kind of the only one who affects the outcome of your match, except for your opponent.