![Hosting the SCLA Casptone Mentor Dinner outside allowed for more attendees on September 27, 2021 at Silver Creek. This event would’ve usually been held inside. According to Lauren Kohn, a SCLA 12 teacher, “If we have a higher number of people, as long as we can host the event outside, then that seems to be keeping every[one] safe”.](https://schsnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/sxMAIGbSYGodZkqmrvTi5YWcJ1ssWA08ApkeMLpp-900x675.jpeg)
Walking past the baseball fields at Silver Creek High School, you feel a sense of connection, a team. Coach Bradley Steward installs the sense of connection with every player on his teams.
Steward not only teaches, but coaches varsity baseball at Silver Creek. As the head coach, he has set a motto for the players to always have in mind: “You’re not special”. Head Coach Brad Steward knows the backstory and the origin of the motto more than most. The motto was created by the senior class of 2019.
“We started with our senior class, and they wanted everybody to understand that they were part of something bigger than themselves,” Steward said.
There is always a start to something, and most things that start have a purpose, a meaning. The meaning of this: the seniors want the team to be fair.
“So we [the coaches] treat them fair, not equal,” Steward said.
Being fair is not always fun, but for a team to run smoothly, it is needed. Being equal can cause problems between players; either it being a problem with attitude, or effort, it is still a problem on a team.
The motto means different things to different people. For some it means they are a team, and others see it as an opportunity to check their egos. Finn Bennett, a 10th grade student athlete at Silver Creek describes what the motto means to him
”The motto is about maintaining yourself as a team,” Bennett said. “No one is above anyone else in our community.”
Being a team on and off the field is important to make connections and win games. Teams need positive interactions and connections; high egos don’t help everyone feel on the same level.
Steward prioritizes keeping everyone on the same level.
“He reinforces that by saying no one can be number one or have number one on their jersey,” Bennett said. “The highest number is two, just a gentle reminder of the idea that everyone is a communal team.”
Ezra Hicks, a 10th grade student athlete on the baseball team, has similar and different ideas on the motto. He thinks the motto helps tone down egos on the diamond.
“A true motto humbles the heart, it reminds you what matters more than yourself,” Hicks said.
Egos on the diamond can cause many issues with the smoothness of play. Keeping everyone on the same page and level of skill tones down the need for an ego or need for doing better than someone else. To play without an ego is to play as a team.
Along with Bennett, Audric Schatz has ideas on how the motto helps the player play as a team, not a bunch of young men.
“I think it means we play as a group, and nobody in our group stands out,” Schatz said. “We’re a team and we work as a unit, and not as individuals,” Schatz said.
Even one out of the 18 players on a team can mess up the flow of well worked and well trained players. All three of the young men had something to say about it; they play as a team and wouldn’t win with people thinking they are better than one another.
Mottos can be used to convey many different messages, and this one conveys many. With Bennet and Schatz focusing on playing as a team, and Hicks focusing on the ego side of the motto. When multiple messages of a motto come together, it creates meaning. That’s the motivation they take to the field and get ready to win with, not for themselves but for the team.
