Tribute: Perfect

When you play sports, I mean really play them, to the point where they consume your life, success is more than something that you want to obtain, more than something that you’re willing to get. It’s something that you will get. You don’t mind the lack of social life, the particular food, the lost sleep, or sore muscles. Truthfully, you enjoy them because you know what they symbolize. You know that the small, insignificant, short struggles are all going to be worth it when you succeed. In fact, those struggles are what make you succeed. No one is perfect. It’s not possible to be flawless. Obstacles are unavoidable; but they separate the strong from the weak, the willing from the unwilling, and those who will succeed, no matter what, from those who say they want to succeed.

Coach Gaines defines Perfect as more than just winning: “Being Perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down because you told them the truth, and that truth is that you did everything you could; there wasn’t one more thing you could’ve done.” He then asks his team, “Can you live in that moment, as best you can, with clear eyes and love in your heart? With joy in your heart?”

Volleyball being a team sport, takes more than one person. Yes, there are superstars who can take over a match, but no one person can beat a team – a strong, solid family. There are times when you come across teams who are genuinely better than you, but that means nothing. Volleyball is a game of chance – anyone can win. All it takes is Perfection. Not Webster’s definition of perfection, “without errors, flaws, or faults,” but Coach Gaines’s definition. Being perfect in volleyball is impossible. Points are scored through errors, whether they’re forced or unforced. Games are not played without errors, flaws, or faults simply because they are played by humans, and humans by nature are not perfect. Games are played with heart and determination. At the end of 25 points, the better team with the “perfect” players does not come out on top. The team with the girls who are willing to fight, to sacrifice all that they have, is the winner. There is nothing more beautiful than a player who can look to their teammate, with love and joy in their heart, knowing they did everything they could.

Win or lose, be perfect.