November 3, 2010

Accountability

Written by: JJ Iverson, CITC Social Studies Teacher, West High School

It was in 1997, as a high school senior, that I remember learning about accountability. As a teenager I pretty much just stuck to my business and was only worried about myself. I had heard my whole life up to that point that a person’s senior year should be one of the best of his/her life. I was determined to make this the case for myself.

This was very evident in football. I did everything I could to put myself in position to be the best player I could be. I wasn’t concerned about team chemistry, brotherhood, keeping others focused, helping develop younger players, etc. However, as a senior captain, it was an unwritten rule that I should be concerned about such ideals.

One day my position group was having a terrible day of practice. Our coach was all over us about our lack of effort, poor attitude, and inability to make adjustments. Push-ups and extra conditioning were our punishments for the poor performance. I had no problems doing the extra work because I knew it was merited.

At the conclusion of practice my coach yanked me aside and told me my teammates had made a mistake by voting me as a captain. I was crushed after hearing this because I thought I was doing the right thing by letting my actions do the talking. My coach’s justification was that I wasn’t being the leader I needed to be in order to help this team reach its full potential. In other words, I wasn’t holding myself accountable. He said that as a captain I should be held accountable for the performance of my teammates, not just my own. He believed that since I was considered a player who could make a difference on the field that I had the responsibility to do the same off of it as well. Being more vocal, being at the front of the line in all drills, snapping at players who were messing around, taking part in other football functions, and taking underclassmen under my wing were examples he cited that could help me earn his respect back and also those of my teammates.

The next day I apologized to my teammates for not being the captain they had expected me to be. I told them from that point on that I would hold myself accountable, but in turn, they should also try to do the same. For the remainder of the season, “BE ACCOUNTABLE” was our battle cry. This simple idea reminded my teammates and I to always be conscious of our jobs and how went about carrying them out.

This is the way I remember the cultural value of being accountable as I experienced in Pierre, SD with my teammates in the fall of 1997.