Basic HTML Version
52
september
october 201 3
Teamwork Matters
By Brittany Jackson
july
august 201 3
Former LadyVol and four-timeNCAAFinal Four participant
Brittany Jackson
is the owner of the
Brittany JacksonBasketball Academy, where she oversees player training, camps, and clinics for all ages
and talent levels. Formore information, go to
sports
IN THE ZONE
Photograph by
BRYAN ALLEN
In 2004,
during my junior year at
the Final Four in NewOrleans, we
were playing LSU. The winner of the
game would go on to the finals.With
six seconds left in the game, LSU had
the ball, and our coach, Pat Summitt,
put her best five defensive players on
the court. Coach Summitt told us all
to buckle down and to focus, and we
were pressing all over the court’Äîand I
will never forget LaToya Davis helping
to cause a turnover and then running
ahead and scoring the winning layup.
And we made it to the finals.
That
was teamwork.
I know it’Äôs corny, but it’Äôs true: There
is no’ÄúI’Äù in team. And there is no’ÄúI’Äù in
teamwork.
Teamwork is valuable on and off the
court, in sports and business. Team-
work is such an important part of life
because it teaches you discipline and
respect. Coach Summitt always taught
us that it was
the team
that mattered.
She preached that we should be unself-
ish and that we should always hold
ourselves accountable to the team.
And she meant it: we knew the whole
teamwould be running sprints
after
a
game if we missed free throws or made
bad turnovers
during
a game.We knew
we all had to be good team players.
Coach Summitt never put up with
selfishness’Äîon or off the court.
Now that I am running a basket-
ball academy and I have other career
responsibilities, I have to work to build
my
team. I’Äôve always been very close
to my family, and my mom and dad
and sister are very much a part of my
team. Many of my close friends and
the people who help me with public
relations for the academy’Äîthey are
all part my team, too. I don’Äôt make
them run sprints when things don’Äôt
go well, but I do always want to work
with people on my teamwho want to
work hard, who aren’Äôt selfish, and who
believe in our common goals.
Being part of a team is incredibly
satisfying. I miss the locker room, the
traveling, working together through
the hard times. Everything is easy
when a team is winning’Äîbut char-
acter and teamwork matters when a
team is losing’Äîthat is when you really
rely on each other. Teammates on
sports teams build a bond and have to
trust each other to succeed. And that is
why playing sports at an early age is so
important: Kids learning about team-
work often have a head start when
playing on teams in middle school and
in high school’Äîand even later if they
play in college.
When I was freshman, the great Mi-
chelle Snowwas at UT, and we wanted
to get her the ball during a game so she
could dunk.We weren’Äôt being disre-
spectful to the other team’Äîwe just
wanted to set up our girl! I remem-
ber one game, we did everything we
could’Äîsetting screens, throwing full-
court passes ’Äì and, sure enough, we
got Snow the ball at the right time and
place on the court’Äîand she dunked.
The whole team felt great’Äîand it all
happened because we all worked as a
team for a common goal. Teamwork is
a necessity in life.