While it’s obvious what motivates players on a team when they get consistent game time (winning, experience, prestige, etc.), what motivates those on the team who don’t get their shot to play? Why practice? Is all their effort going to no end, or are there underlying motives? Did it pan out to be what they expected when they decided they wanted to play the sport in the first place, or is the pain of sitting on the sidelines too much to bear? The answers to these questions may not be obvious, but are meaningful to those involved.

“It’s to gain respect from the team. If you keep showing up, the more you can impress them and the more they’ll like you, giving you a better chance of playing. It takes up time that I wouldn’t be doing anything anyways, and I really enjoy spending time with the people on the team. Practicing with them gives me good experience, especially having basically a personal trainer. I’ve improved probably over fifty percent of where I originally was over just a couple months,” said Nathan Cunningham, freshmen and member of Freedom High School’s soccer team.

Practice and experience can clearly make a difference, but with knowing there’s a good chance you won’t play, does it affect the amount of effort put in?

“Yeah it’s more like I don’t try as hard as I could because I know it’s pretty much useless anyways,” said Cunningham.

When considering why these players may not play, the first thought would be, “well they’re just worse” but this isn’t always the case.

“I’m like our starting goal keeper, we’re basically the same in playstyle so I didn’t think I would do worse if anything I’d do a little better, I definitely know I have faster reaction time, and I think ahead of what could happen,” said Cunningham.

Players who don’t play in games can start to lose their sense of value to the team, do others view them as a part of the team, and do their teammates? Do they themselves believe they’re a part of the “team?”

“I kind of feel like I’m a part of the team, because I have still played a little at least, but the way people who actually play treat you, you shouldn’t really feel like you are. It’s like horrible, when you do something good nobody congratulates you, they just look at your small errors and judge you harshly for it. I’d obviously rather be playing since I know I can make an impact and being one of those people, even people outside of the team judge you and say stuff like ‘oh have fun bench warming’ and stuff like that,” said Cunningham.

Does this affect the players’ attitude, or can a good coach balance everything?

“It’s easy for me to keep a good attitude unless someone says something offensive to me, which happens periodically, but besides that it’s not that hard. I just want to give a good impression, so that I get along with everyone, and the coach treats me like he expects me to play in the coming years but doesn’t really talk about playing this year. He pretty much treats us all the same with the exception of when people are acting stupid,” said Cunningham.

Coming into the season these players most likely came in with a good attitude and expected it to be fun, and include games; being a part of a team should be unifying, enjoyable, and positive, but things aren’t always what they’re believed to be.