Offseason

Gym Rats (1/16/14) - 

An interesting thing happened in the gym today that completely reaffirmed my motivation and dedication to Inception. But first, a bit of background.

Although our 2013 season ended with a loss in the game-to-go to eventual 3rd place finishers at Nationals, Johnny Bravo, there was plenty of reason for Inception to hold their heads high. From day 1 of tryouts, the goal for Inception was to get to the game-to-go in the South Central region because while a loss meant missing nationals, the simple fact of earning a spot into the game would open up the possibilities for Inception to compete in higher quality tournaments in 2014. This includes our home-based tournament in August, Colorado Cup. In 2013, Inception was snubbed a bid to CC despite having a better 2013 ranking, as well as having beaten some teams invited to the tournament. Why? Because regular season event invites are divvied up according to the results from the previous year's Conference Championships (Sectionals) and more importantly, Regionals. Suffice to say, Inception had a...less than impressive result in 2012, finishing 5th in the region for the second year in a row, which cost them bids to the higher tiered tourneys the following year.

So, jump forward to the 2013 Regional game-to-go loss, and it's easy to see why Inception was content with the 2013 campaign. Or so I thought. It wasn't until our weekly gym/lifting session this week that I learned I was not the only one whose content had quickly worn thin.

Thinking back on the 2013 season always managed to put a smile on my face. It was nice to be on a team that achieved all the goals we set forth. Really, this was the first time a team I was on had done so. In college ultimate at CSU, the positive results were few and far between, and when all was said and done there was always much to be desired when reminiscing about the previous season. My high school soccer career can only be described as...inconsistent and completely disappointing. For a short time, this was not the case with Inception, but as is typically true with competitive athletes, nothing but #1 will do. The feeling of contention quickly gave way not to disappointment or anger but pure, unadulterated motivation for me. Unbeknownst to me until today, this was true for my teammates as well.

It's funny how certain thoughts manifest themselves in your mind. When it came to the 2013 season, my mind immediately and constantly repeats only one phrase over and over: "Five points from nationals." "Five points from nationals." So, it was a great shock hearing that exact phrase articulated by someone else. In the bullshitting that goes on between lifting sets, I believe it was Joel who first said what was in my mind verbatim.  

"I can't believe we were only five points from nationals, Dawg."

And to my surprise, Hopp chimed in with a "Yeah!" in a tone that could only mean 'you're totally right, it's all I think about'.

I never doubted my teammates' motivation or drive to continue to make Inception better, but hearing it out loud is another level. I personally think part of the shock stems from the fact that while I consider myself part of the team 100%, my spot on Inception is never a certainty. This fact is where my motivation stems from originally, but has now just manifested itself as the four-word mantra above. These guys (Joel, Hopp, Jamie and House are my typical gym buddies) are the backbone of the program and therefore should not have to worry about losing a spot, or even playing time with Inception, unlike myself. Which is totally fine. Like I said, this keeps me going to the offseason workouts and gym sessions such as this one. It's just jarring sometimes when those in a different place have the exact same mantra as you do, despite their motivation to achieve their goals stemming from a completely different ideal or experience on the team.

Needless-to-say, I'm pumped for Inception 2014. More offseason stuff to come, because a team's success comes so little with regular season activities, every team has those. It's what a team does (or more importantly doesn't do) in the offseason that will determine their ceiling.

BOUGH