The Hard Hat: 21 Ways to Be a Great Teammate

Chapter 9The Heart of a Leader

In the second game of the season our team had suffered an embarrassing loss to Georgetown in Washington, DC, in front of many of George's hometown friends and family. He was really upset about the way our team had played. After that, we won against Stony Brook, but just barely, with the team playing way below our potential. George was relentless in that game, stealing the ball from opposing players, picking up tons of ground balls, running like the wind, doing everything in his power to help lead us to victory.

Before that next game on the 17th, George was pacing around the locker room, and he shared his concerns with his fellow captain, Andrew Collins. He said the team wasn't where we needed to be and he was looking forward to getting us back on track.

It was an intensely cold Wednesday night and our team was once again playing way below its potential. We should have been cruising to victory, but in the fourth quarter we were only leading by a few goals. At this point in the game, George shouldn't have been playing. We should have secured the win so some of the younger guys could have taken the field to gain some experience and playing time. But with the game so close and the outcome uncertain, George was still in the game, playing as relentlessly as ever, trying to deliver a win for our team.

Our opponent had the ball on offense in a man-up situation ...