Women's Lacrosse NCAA Tournament vs. Loyola
Confidence and communication are the two most important factors to being successful in your career. If you are not confident in your decisions, then your work will reflect that tentativeness. If you do not know what you are doing but perform with confidence and show motivation, people will respect you and trust you. Communicating creates a smooth workflow, which will only increase the confidence of all parties involved.
A phrase I’m sure everybody has heard at some point in their life is “communication is key.” After running the shot clock for women’s lacrosse, this term has taken on new meaning. Lacrosse has three officials for every game and an individual running the game clock and the possession clock (also referred to as the shot clock). As the manager for women’s lacrosse, I have been asked to run the shot clock during games.
At every game, the two individuals running the clock have a pre-game meeting with the officials. During this meeting, I ask that all of them do the hand signals during the game to avoid any confusion. However, the most recent game against Virginia Tech challenged me. Unfortunately, the Mount fell behind by 10 points resulting in a running clock. Once this occurred, the officials stopped communication with each other, causing lots of confusion.
At one point each official performed a different signal simultaneously. This caused confusion for multiple people involved, including coaches, players, and fans. Not only is it important to communicate those around you, but it is also crucial to communicate with those you work with. Thankfully, I understand the game of lacrosse so I did not need to rely on the officials. However, many student workers may not understand the game, making it important to communicate and guide those in the clock position.
While I do not plan on running a clock professionally, if an employer or coworker does not communicate, things can go awry. As I am learning in my sports information position, there is nothing wrong with asking for help. It is better to ask for help, rather than mess up and waste time. Nobody will ever judge you for seeking assistance. Rather, it will show courage and you will gain respect from your peers.
For the next home game, I will be running the shot clock again. I am hopeful an incident like this will not occur again. However, if it does, I am prepared and confident in my decisions to run the clock without the officials’ guidance. Challenges come up every day that can reflect what will happen in a professional setting. The fact Coach Lo is confident in my abilities to put me on an important role, such as shot clock, boosts my morale. If the coaching staff is confident in me, then I can be confident in my decision making.
Confidence and communication are the two most important factors to being successful in your career. If you are not confident in your decisions, then your work will reflect that tentativeness. If you do not know what you are doing but perform with confidence and show motivation, people will respect you and trust you. Communicating creates a smooth workflow, which will only increase the confidence of all parties involved.