I’ve played on championship-caliber teams.
The best team I was ever on didn’t win.
If you’ve been around sports long enough, you start to realize something…the teams you remember the most aren’t always the ones that won.
Now, I’ve been incredibly fortunate in my time as an athlete.
At Bryant, we were state championship contenders my senior year — until injuries shifted the course of our season in a way none of us saw coming.
At UCA, as a Sugarbear, we had success at a level most athletes only hope for. We made a run to the NCAA Division II National Tournament and found ourselves in the Sweet Sixteen.
And that game? I still think about it. Not because of the scoreboard. But because, personally, I didn’t play my best. The pieces just didn’t fall together the way I wanted them to. And when the game ended, it wasn’t just the loss that stayed with me…
It was everything I felt I could have done differently. That’s the part people don’t always talk about. Even on successful teams, even in big moments, the games that stick with you aren’t always the wins. They’re the ones that challenge you. The ones that humble you. The ones that stay with you a little longer than you’d like to admit.
But here’s what I’ve come to realize over time… some of the best team I ever played on didn’t win it all.
And I’ve thought about that a lot over the years.
Because what made that team special had nothing to do with a final score. We had trust; the kind where you didn’t have to look to know your teammate was going to be where they were supposed to be. We had accountability; the kind where you could be called out and not take it personally — because you knew it was about making the team better, not tearing someone down. We had resilience; moments where things didn’t go our way – but we showed up the next day ready to go again.
And maybe most importantly… we had each other. That team taught me more about life than any scoreboard ever could. It taught me how to lead when things were hard. It taught me how to respond when I didn’t play my best. And maybe most importantly, it taught me that your value as a teammate isn’t defined by one game — even when it feels like it in the moment.
READ MORE BELOW
Which is why, when I’m watching games now — whether it’s at a local ballpark, a gym, or even from behind the scenes with Speedy umpiring — I find myself paying attention to different things.
I notice the way teammates talk to each other. I notice who picks someone up after a mistake. I notice the energy in the dugout, the bench, the huddle.
Because you can tell pretty quickly what kind of team you’re watching.
You can tell if they’re connected. You can tell if they trust each other. And you can definitely tell if they’re playing for something bigger than themselves.
And here’s the part that sometimes gets overlooked…Kids notice it too. They feel it.
They know when they’re part of something positive. They know when their teammates have their back. And they know when the environment around them is building them up — or wearing them down.
That matters more than we give it credit for.
Because years from now, they’re not going to remember every score. They’re going to remember the people. The inside jokes. The practices. The moments in between the games. That’s what sticks.
So yes, we all want to win – of course we do. But maybe the better question is this:
What kind of team are we building?
Because if we’re building one that values effort, trust, resilience, and support…Then we’re doing it right. Win or lose. And if we’re lucky, those kids will walk away with something even better than a trophy.
They’ll walk away with lessons that last a lifetime.
And that? That’s how the ball really bounces.
Read more from How the Ball Bounces with Bekka in the archives at www.mysaline.com/bounces.
About the author: Bekka Wilkerson is a lifelong lover of all things sports. Raised in a super athletic household it was no surprise when she too began to love sports at a young age. It seems like from the time she could walk she had a softball bat in her hands, but her true athletic passion came from all things Basketball. That love served her well as a Bryant High School Lady Hornet and ultimately earned her a full scholarship to play at the University of Central Arkansas – among many other adventures.
These days Bekka can be found running around Saline County with her husband, Speedy, or chasing one of her grandsons. She is also the Executive Director of The EMpact One Foundation, a Saline County Nonprofit Organization that helps young people stay connected to extracurricular activities through tuition assistance and equipment provisions.
Reach out to Bekka with questions and/or ideas about things you want to see in this column at [email protected] and learn more about The EMpact One Foundation at www.empactone.org.
