Cara+Jessica+Script

media type="file" key="Coach Jessica.m4a" Imagine being a four-year varsity softball player in high school. Playing centerfield, being central to the action on a playing field. Feeling the weight of personal expectation with each play.

One of few girls in her large family, Jessica was raised to be fearless, to challenge herself, and to "try anything." When Jessica got her first softball coaching position, she envisioned her glory days as a young, high school player. Little she did know that this experience would redefine how she measured success.

"For me, playing softball is second nature...The freshmen softball team, which happened to be here in Scarsdale about nine years ago...these girls had never even held a softball bat, didn't know which direction to run on the bases, so I had to really break down my own fundamentals in order to teach them basic aspects of the game...Needless to say, we won one game all season that year. The greatest victory for us was not even the win, the win was by forfeit. We played one team at the beginning of the season, we lost to them by about twenty-something runs. We played them again toward the end of the season. We lost in extra innings by one run...we were scoring runs, we were hitting, we were //actually// fielding. It was a big, huge accomplishment. I felt like I had won the World Series with the loss..."

From where the team started to where the team finished the season, Jessica learned that victory is sweet, even when it is with a "loss." The road to success is unconventional, making it even more fulfilling and gratifying.