A personal note.
Page 1, paragraph 3, sentence 1 of Seth Godin’s Tribes reads “A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.”
I could not get this out of my head Saturday.
I play ice hockey, and at 3:10 PM this past Saturday, I found myself playing goalie for a team that was not my own, under the worst set of circumstances.
“How did I get here?” was the second thought going through my mind. I was on the ice because of the multitude of tribes to which I belong.
First, Atalasoft. Our small tribe all working together to be leaders in our industry. Part of that tribe includes Steve, our chief architect. Because of Steve, I’m involved with another tribe, the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress. I play hockey for them in a charity game to raise money for awareness.
Because we play against former NHL players, I joined a women’s team out of Boston, the Raging Storm, to get in playing shape. So there are more tribes – athletes, women athletes, hockey players, goalies – to name a few. Through this tribe, someone passed my name to another team who was looking for a goalie to play for them this past weekend in the Fitchburg Have A Heart tournament. I joined another tribe, the Panthers.
While dressing for our first game, we heard devastating news. The goalie for the tournament host team had chest pains in the second period of her game. She refused to leave the ice, not recognizing the seriousness of the situation. She finished the game, returned to the locker room, and had a massive heart attack. She did not survive.
Her team decided to continue in the tournament, as that is what she would have wanted. When I heard they were playing, I approached the captain and let her know I would play for them if they needed me.
She informed me that they did need me for their third game of the tournament, and so I joined their tribe.
While dressing for that game, the team let me know that they rarely won, and that I shouldn’t expect them to score more than one goal, if that even. Their faces were heartbreaking to look at – they were in grief and in shock, eyes red and puffy – but they put on brave faces. They bonded together over the tragedy, and connected with each other over their (and their goalie’s) love of hockey.
We took the ice. I have never wanted to win so badly in my life. I have played at the national level, USA Hockey B division, but that was nothing compared to the pressure I felt playing behind these women.
We won 5-3.
It was the hardest game I have ever played, but will go down in my mind as the best game I have ever played, both physically and mentally.
Everything we do in life affects everyone we know, even if the details are so small not to be noticed directly. Every one of my customers will interact with someone who is improved. Each tribe I am a member of is now stronger, because I am stronger for the experience.
Thank you, Shelly Leclier. I would say rest in peace, but I know you’ll find ice time in heaven.