For the average high school athlete, during the season, life consists primarily of practice, games, and your schoolwork. There is rarely ever a moment that could be considered free, and those few that are tend to be very precious. Teammates become family because of the camaraderie and the fact that the difficulty of the schedule cannot be sympathized by an outsider. As the season wears on those precious free moments begin to be time spent with this newfound family and building a bond that seems inevitable in hindsight.

One such example of this bond, and the lengths people will go to protect those that they truly care for is a little known story about a baseball team and the trouble that the players found themselves in with the law and their health.

At this high school, blue and white reigned supreme. School spirit, thus the school colors, were a way of life for most of the small school’s student body. Everyone was involved in sports in some way and because of this dedication most of the teams were fairly competitive. The varsity baseball team was no exception. The team had won more titles than any other school in the district. Championships were not something strived for. They were expected.

Due to this longstanding tradition of excellence, other schools began to question how this school could possibly be so good all the time. It appeared that this team was just better in nearly every way. They were coached better. They worked harder. They had more natural ability. Coaches from other teams were in awe of this team and asked the coach what he did to make his team so good.

The coach explained that his boys were focused. They loved the game and wanted to win. They wanted to continue playing ball in college and hopefully beyond so they understood that by winning and winning their chances of that happening depended on what they did now. He also explained what the practices consisted of and how the players were on strict curfews so that they were in the best possibly physical condition. He told the other coaches that his players spent time in the weight room whenever they had free time.

The team won the championship yet again. The other coaches were content though, because now they knew the secret. The next season they instituted similar rules and ran their teams in a similar fashion. They expected results. Surely, after all this hard work by the boys at other schools, it would be a more competitive season. This sadly was not the case.