Every Impact Matter by Lindsay Banner

"If you've made a positive impact on one person, then the effort was worth it."  Countless times, dad would tell me that after he and I would be discussing a practice that I came from and was frustrated with the progress my athletes were making. His first comment would always be regarding his sales experience and people's retention of new concepts. "Lindsay, when learning something new, remember individuals' attention spans are short and they are retaining about 20% of what you are instructing or informing them." Sound bites. Coach in sound bites. Do you know how hard that is when you want to impart all of your knowledge on them to help them achieve greater success than yours? And after rehashing practice by five minute segments with dad on my drive home, and discussing the accomplishments, light bulb moments, and the tribulations of practice he would remind to take a step back and remember the big picture.  What was it all for? To make them a better athlete, sure, if possible, but the greater purpose to make them better individuals prepared for life outside the gym. So if one girl left the gym with more self confidence in her abilities on the court, then it would most likely transfer to her day-to-day life, and that was the true purpose of an effective practice. It was worth it if you took two hours of your busy day to make one girl even slightly realize her potential. That was my dad forever altruistic.  I wish more people could have that vision and thought process and I wish it was an easy mindset to stay motivated within...because it  can be utterly disheartening at times.  But that is not necessarily the point of this post. It goes back to positively impacting one person's life.

            Saturday, I received a visit from my old teammate, Mickey Carey.  Mickey walked on as a freshman my senior year at Clarion.  Mickey was a work horse and earned every second of playing time she got while I had the opportunity to play with her. Positive attitude and hard worker. It paid off in the end, earning her a scholarship (which warms my heart a little). My kind of girl and my favorite kind of story. Due to the age gap at that point in time, aside from volleyball and sharing a few professors, Mickey and I didn't spend much time getting to know each other. Not due to lack of desire, just time. I knew more about her from mutual friends then actual experiences. So when Mickey showed up this weekend, I was excited to catch up, as I always am with friends, but had no serious expectations. But it was awesome! This girl is doing amazing things. Picked up, moved to a city, essentially started a business and kicking butt. "The harder you work, the luckier you get." - one of my favorite John Woodenisms.

            The purpose of this preface is to better understand a story Mickey shared with me this weekend and I hope she doesn't mind me including in this post (and I hope it is accurately depicted). Mickey told me about her visit to Clarion when she was first looking at schools her senior year of high school. Her mom and her had made the trip to Clarion and in the process her mom's car had broke down while they were in Clarion. Who came to their assistance alongside the road, but Mr. Tony Banner.  Dad apparently told her where to get her car taken to and where to look for a new one if that should be the case.  Allegedly that made an impression on Mickey's mom that a random person would take time out of their busy day and pull over, help and guide. During their interaction, Mickey and her mom learned that he was my dad.  Hours later while meeting with Ms. Lynn Hepfl in the Honor's office, Mickey was informed that I apparently was doing all of the things Mickey was interested in doing. And the rest is history.   But the point is, who knows where Mickey would have ended up if dad hadn't run into them during their unfortunate travel affairs.  Sure, he may not have made that big of an impact on her, but he could of, and Clarion University is lucky to have Mickey as an alumni as she has just began her journey. It's rare that you get to hear or see the fruits of your labor. I wish dad was around to tell him, but I'm sure he already knows. So I challenge you to take a moment out of your busy schedule to do something that might be a nuisance and see what positive impact that makes.