When Jada Sanders fell out of favor with her coach, instead of feeling defeated she used the tough moment as motivation to improve.
Softball is my sport, my passion, and has been for years. I’ve always had great supportive coaches who helped me get to where I am now. Recently, that changed.
Last year, I had a coach who was great at the beginning of the season. She played for her college team but she always made time for mine. She helped me a lot, even with things outside of softball. As time went on she gave less and less effort, and expected us to know everything about the game. She’d give us a drill and stand back and watch us fail.
When we did, she’d punish us with conditioning rather than telling us what we’re doing wrong. When it came to tournaments, it was the same. She got super disrespectful at times and had favorites. Clearly, I wasn’t one of them.
I often felt directly targeted. Once after a winning game, we stood in our huddle while she went around and mentioned a good play each person made. When she got to me, no compliments, no comments, nothing. She looked me directly in my eyes and skipped me.