Two Year Deal

I have been told by many fellow athletes that it doesn't make sense to sign a two year contract early in your career and the only reason it should be worth considering is if the money in the second year is significantly more. I was rereading my senior night speech today and I realized how much I missed my time at university - not just because of the wins, the organization, and the simplicity, but the people. I was surrounded by so many great people all working towards a common goal and that is what I miss the most. I have yet to experience anything close to that feeling I had on seniors night because come December, everyone is already thinking and talking about what teams have shown interest in them, the offers they start getting, and the contracts that are being thrown around. Not only is it a huge distraction, but it leaves no room for team growth or unity. It is hard to invest, no matter how hard you try, if you know you or your teammates are leaving. I have seriously considered signing a 2 year deal because of what is important to me. The people, the brotherhood, the common goal. I want to work towards something with a group of people and have more than 4 months to do it before people start exploring other options. Maybe that’s silly of me because of course even if I sign a two year deal, others may not, but at least I can feel better about making sacrifices for the team, building into the community, and making relationships that I know are going to be long term. 

This, I have learned, is imperative to my performance although not directly linked to spiking or serving. I miss those rebuild years when everything seems hard and dark. I miss welcoming the rookies and showing them the ropes. I miss the post practice chats about the years before and the years to come. I miss learning from mistakes of the past and not letting them happen again. I miss those people that knew more about me than my spike touch, and where my locker was. I miss seeing the growth and tracking the ups and downs from year to year. But who knows, maybe that’s just the nature of pro sports and signing a two year contract won’t fill those holes that I miss so much.

J