With leadership comes responsibility
Mikaila's PerspectiveWe sat in a couple of big, comfy chairs right outside of our locker room prior to a team meeting. It seemed as though Ilene had done this a million times before; her body language was chill and confident and her answers to or questions came naturally.
“In terms of basketball, why did you come to Emory?” She said that a big part of it had to with the team’s winning record; she didn’t want to go to a school that didn’t have a good program. Moreover, she had developed a really good relationship with the assistant coach during recruitment; this is something I personally can relate to. When being recruiting by Emory, I felt that I had built that same, strong relationship with the assistant coach, Coach M. She was constantly calling and staying in touch with me and from the very start I knew she was one of my supporters, she believed in not only my abilities but in me as an individual, and that was something very special. That not only drew Ilene to Emory, but myself as well. However, just this past summer the assistant coach got a position at a Division I school, and considering that she eventually wanted to be a head coach, it was in her best interest to take that job, and she did. On top of that, the team’s past season was pretty rough, and not at all what was expected. So that made our next question an easy one to come up with. “So considering that last season wasn’t a winning season, and Coach M isn’t here anymore, have those reasons changed?” Ilene paused for a moment and then said, “Well now that I’m here it’s because of the people I met.” She explains how she does it for her junior class, the four of them, and that they are the reasons why they’d never quit, because they could and would never do that to each other. This made me think back to my senior year basketball season; we had 9 seniors on the team, and we were as close as any team I had ever been on, those girls were and are truly my sisters. But at one point in the season, it got too hard for one of those girls; she didn’t think she got enough playing time and she thought our coach was out to get her, so she quit. It just seemed so selfish of her, to do that to the rest of us. It was really a blow to the heart and our team suffered emotionally a bit because of it. “If it wasn’t for them would you consider quitting,” I was curious as to how she would respond to this. “Probably not, I mean I like it. I think it’s stressful, I think it’s time-consuming, but at the end of the day it’s still way more worth it than not playing.” She continues, “It’s just fun, it’s an identity you have on campus, it just feels like you’re accomplishing something everyday, being an athlete is completely different and people don’t get it I really feel like we are part of an exclusive club that other people don’t understand and we take hard work to another level.” “So what’s the difference between being a freshman and now as a junior, being an upperclassmen?” Ilene starts to talk about how it’s more stressful but in different ways. As a freshman the stress comes from homesickness, the fact that everything is new and all you want to do is impress people. But as an upperclassman, Ilene explains that “it’s more of like I have to make sure everyone’s on their best behavior, and doing what they need to do. As a freshman and sophomore it’s easy to show up and do your job and play basketball, which is what I did the first two years. But now you have to worry about so much more than that, and it becomes way more about the team versus yourself.” I kept reminiscing about my high school seasons with everything Ilene was telling us; it was exactly how I felt in high school. As a freshman, all I wanted was to play to the best of my ability, and for the upperclassmen to like me. I showed up day in and day out and did my job as a player. But as a two-year captain on my high school team (my junior and senior years), I wasn’t only responsible for myself, this was my team, and I was responsible for every single girl on it. I held a leadership position and the underclassmen looked up to me for advice, for a model to follow, for friendship, and for leadership. The difference between high school ball and college ball, as Ilene explains, is just that “everything is faster, quicker, there’s more to worry about, more time, more commitment, higher levels of stress, so it’s the same thing with being in a leadership role. You’re still playing the same sport, it’s still a team, it’s still a coach, but college is high school basketball on steroids,” and that wasn’t just something that my teammate said, it was something I believe and already, in my short amount of time here, know. |
Camille's PerspectiveIlene sits cross-legged on the blue couch outside of our locker room in the Woodpec. The ambiance of this interview is by far the most casual. I find myself comparing the first two interviews to this one before it has even begun. It’s Interesting, I think, each one of the interviews, although a lot of it was just convenience, have ended up reflecting our interviewee’s personalities. And a minute in, this one is already relaxed, yet still clearly purposed.
Mikaila and I briefly describe the intentions of the interview, and we begin. “Why did you want to come to Emory?” For me, answering this question would have taken a little mulling over, and maybe that is because I’m a freshman, a month into my first semester of college. But I believe that it has more to do with where Ilene and I differ. You can tell Ilene is a very focused individual by her answer, “basically because they had a winning record, and I felt I would be able to get playing time,” she says. Her answer is simple yet honest. Personally, I have never been on a team where each team member is valued so equally, no matter their role or potential. And although I know accountability and trust are important on our team, when she says she would never even consider not playing basketball because of her teammates, I am thoroughly impressed. And for the first time I see a direct transference of what it means to have trust within a team. And I think back to their previous season, when they did not have the "winning record" Ilene mentioned. And I realize Ilene has learned to put the team above herself. “Is there anything else you can about playing Emory Women's basketball?” I ask. “Well, I think it’s stressful. I think it’s time-consuming. But at the end of the day it is way more worth it," she says. Ilene is right, and I think all college athletes would agree. Playing a sport in college is a huge trade off. But, “It feels like you’re accomplishing something everyday” she says, backing up her statement. “We’re part of almost an exclusive club that other people don’t understand. We take hard work to another level.” Just from my 4 weeks of preseason I have experienced at the college level, I can see what she means. People who do not play a sport, and maybe even the other athletes who are not on our team, do not understand all the little things that we do. We have a belief on our team that we are the hardest working team on campus, and I have no doubt that this is true. Mikaila then moves on, and asks her a question about her role as a leader on our team this year. Our team is unique because we do not have any seniors. This can be looked at as a weakness, and a strength. However, when we have leaders like Ilene and some of our other juniors, there is no reason for it to be a weakness. But, I do realize how much harder it has to be on Ilene because she is forced from an underclassmen role to a main leadership role, when typically junior year is a transition between the two. She elaborates on what I am already thinking by saying, “Freshmen and sophomore year, it’s easy to simply show up and do your job. But now, being an upperclassmen, and especially having no seniors, it becomes way more about the team than about yourself.” This is one of the first times I have considered this. It is so easy to, as a freshman, get distracted by all the new things to appreciate some of the things other people are doing. And this is exactly what she means. From just this five to ten minute interview, Ilene really showed her maturity and leadership. I am impressed and inspired, and I hope to be as good of a leader when it is my turn to do so. |