Northwestern University Athletics
“One Goal Earned, Another Challenge Ahead” - By Sydney Supple
5/11/2022 3:06:00 PM | Softball
This is not the Big Ten Championship type piece you were expecting to read. In all fairness, it is not the one I pictured writing, but that is the beauty of life, the unknown.
Friday evening watching the Nebraska versus Indiana game was the moment we realized we were Big Ten Champions. As a team, we stood up and cheered and were told to go to our hotel's courtyard to see the Big Ten Championship Trophy engraved with our team's name on it, along with hats and shirts for all of us to wear. It was mesmerizing to see a scene unfold that you have always dreamed about and worked every day for as a program be right in front of you. I read one tweet on Twitter that summed it up perfectly: "it's about damn time." We earned that title.
Now I can't go on with what is ahead for our team before I talk about this weekend in Minnesota. Hear me out, Sunday's win was probably a top-two favorite of mine behind UCLA. That might sound crazy because one is a top 5 team, but let me explain why. Softball has taught me more about life than anything else I have ever encountered and it is not a secret life is really hard sometimes. Student-athlete life especially is trying, tiring, and mentally challenging. Unfortunately, we have seen a lot of tragedies in sports this season and I know I have touched on it before about mental health but it is something that can't only be brought up once when it is still present every day in athletes' lives. This weekend we were knocked down the first two days, we won't shy away from that, we will own that as a team.
The most empowering thing was looking in at a room full of people after we all failed and watching them say, I still choose you and I still choose us. That is so much bigger than softball, learning that you can fall short, be embarrassed, but be picked right back up. You don't have time to question your worth when the person next to you is saying I believe in you. This game has taught us that no matter how gloomy the day before was, the sun comes up tomorrow and we have a chance to be us again, play the game we love with each other, and be grateful for this journey we are on. This Sunday when most people probably counted us out or questioned how we would respond, we were higher than ever before: mentally, emotionally, and physically. That is why I love this team because we aren't perfect, we are authentically us.
Big Ten Champions of the regular season is given to the team that was consistently tough throughout the entire Big Ten season and that is what I am most proud of in our team. We showed up every weekend prepared, determined, and resilient. That is thanks to all of our incredible coaches and staff members who are behind the scenes making all of the difference in the world, you know who you are and we appreciate you. This is only the beginning of what we want to accomplish and this weekend we have the opportunity to seek another title in the Big 10 tournament starting on Thursday. See you in East Lansing!
One last thing, if we are Big Ten Champions that also makes you all Big Ten Champs because we are ALL in this together Cats!
Sincerely,
Sydney #26
