Golf Tees & Two-by-Fours

Specifically, a used, unpainted golf tee and a foot-long, unsanded section of a two-by-four.

When Coach Paul Shirley first showed up at practice with that golf tee two weeks ago, we runners were not quite sure what to think. Coach explained that the tee would be the reward for "winning practice" and would be presented at the end of each training session to the runner who had worked the hardest that day (collectively determined by the captains). Winners had to return the tee to Coach at the beginning of the next practice, but in the interim, they would be allowed to customize the tee however they wanted (although Coach did specify that he'd prefer it to remain in one piece, much to the chagrin of certain members of the team). By the end of that week, the tee had been initialed, painted blue, stenciled with stars, and striped with red paint. (Shoutout to all the practice winners from that week for your hard work and creativity--you know who you are :)

The golf tee by the end of the week (Photo: Brandan Leauby)

While a golf tee may not seem like a particularly exciting prize, Coach explained to us that if we were willing to compete for something that small and insignificant, we would be willing to compete for anything.

Last week, after our most difficult practice of the season yet, Coach retired the tee "to the archives" (meaning that boys captain Brandan Leauby was appointed to take it home for safekeeping) and arrived at practice with a section of a two-by-four about a foot long and complete with unsanded edges. Given the hard work put in by the entire team during our mile repeats on the previous day, he felt that we deserved a better prize for winning practice. So far, the ends of the wood have been sanded and the entire piece painted with gold, red, and black stripes.

This new winner-of-practice system is an outworking of our team motto for the season: Prepare, Encourage, Compete. (We're still working out how to incorporate that into our pre-race cheer; Coach already definitively nixed us yelling "PEC!" at the top of our lungs.) For the past few weeks, we've spent hours preparing for the season to come, building up our strength and endurance through timed miles, distance running, CTs, and drills, so that when race day arrives, we can focus on meeting and exceeding the goals we've set for ourselves. We've grown together as a team, encouraging one another by pushing our fellow runners to their full potential and rejoicing with them when they meet their goals. We've learned to compete by running our best and working our hardest for a prize as insignificant as a golf tee.

I can't wait to see what our team will accomplish this season!

Naomi