Renowned softball coach Sue Enquist passed on advice from 26 years of coaching at both the collegiate and Olympic levels to Bowdoin athletes and coaches in her talk, “Competitive Character Blueprints: Building Sustainable and Relevant Leadership Systems,” at Kresge Auditorium on Tuesday.
Before starting her coaching career, Enquist played softball for UCLA, helping the program reach its first national championship. Her career batting average of .401 was a program record that remained untouched for 24 years. Enquist went on to have an incredible career as head coach of the UCLA softball program. The left the team with a a combined 11 national championships as a player and coach. Enquist also won a gold medal as the coach of the USA softball team in the 1996 Olympic games, the first time softball was included in the Olympics.
During Enquist’s years as head coach of the UCLA program, her teams won 83% of their games. Yet, despite all of the great teams that she coached, Enquist noted that she had seen her teams fail many times.
“[We were] ranked number one in the country, [had] nine returners, and we got knocked out in the second round [of the World Series],” said Enquist.
“Every year I coached, every single team went to the World Series, and we’re really proud of that consistency. But what about the years where we were supposed to win the World Series and didn’t get past the first round?”
She explained the reasons behind this team’s failures.
“When entitlement starts to flourish in a team, when people think we’re supposed to win today, that’s when you’re in trouble. That’s when the game comes up, and it bites you in the butt,” said Enquist. “You say you never saw it coming—yes, you saw it coming. You looked in the other dugout and said game over.”
These points particularly stuck out to men’s tennis captain Chase Savage ‘16, as his team continues to face the pressures of one of its strongest seasons in recent program history.
“Hearing from an 11-time national champion that there were teams who she thought underperformed but were still in the top four in the country I think shows a lot and says a lot about the power of having a complete backing from every member of your team,” said Savage. “You can have all the accolades in the world, and you can have all the talent, but if you go out there and you don’t respect your opponent, your opponent can still beat you that day.”
“You should never expect your opponent to give you anything,” he continued. “I think as a team, we’re trying to capture that this year by emphasizing that every day in practice, we have to earn it because every single match we play, we’re going to have to earn it as well.”
Having retired in 2006, Enquist’s talk also focused on how the key leadership characteristics built through athletics translate to life outside of the collegiate athletic sphere. From the relationship with excellence that comes from playing at an elite college to harnessing the positive attributes of competition, Enquist described how she’s seen and experienced the benefits of these traits.
“One year we were in the finals of the World Series. My catcher goes down, the backup catcher goes down, and the third catcher goes down. We’re ranked number one in the country, and I have a backup right fielder as the starting catcher. She hasn’t had a catcher’s glove on in six years. But this is what I know about sports—you have mastered fundamentals that allow you to be adjusted that you actually can perform very well when we tweak your role,” said Enquist.
According to Enquist, this ability to master fundamentals and adjust well translates to the business world.
“So when you get that first job and they say ‘Hey you’re a director, but we need a vice president,’ the first thing you’re going to think is ‘I’m not sure I’m worthy,’ ‘I’m not sure I’m capable.’ When in doubt, raise your hand and say ‘I can do that.’ Figure it out later, because your general skill set is going to allow you to do so many things outside of that specific job.”
As a senior, Savage reflected on how his athletic experience sets himself up to be very comfortable with success and failure in any aspect of his life.
“In my four years here, athletics has been a place where I’ve failed, but it’s a place that allowed me to get back up. The win or the loss really forces you to confront failure on a daily basis, and it forces you to pick yourself up,” he said.
“If you don’t learn how to pick yourself up, and it’s not just sports, if you don’t find the way to get over adversity, you’re really going to struggle.” He continued, “Every person in this world, no matter how smart, no matter how athletic, no matter how talented, has a day or a moment or many moments when they’re simply not as good as somebody else.”