Team of Teams: Collaboration in the EOS Ecosystem

seanxa (42)in #eos • 6 years ago (edited)

The smell of rain - wet grass - earth and mud…

When I smell those things I am transported back to the soccer pitches (aka football) of my childhood. It didn’t matter if the rain was pounding down, we played. I played other sports as well ---- but soccer --- that was my real sport.

I loved the game but in those first couple of years, the fact that it was a team sport, hadn't sunk in, in the way it should have. I played Forward and I loved putting the ball in the back of the net. I wanted to be the guy who scored more than anyone else on the team.
In one of the games we were up 3 to 0 but none of the goals were mine. The coach pulled the starters out of the game. I paced the sidelines frustrated - angry. The game ended with our team on top. I strode to the car, head down, scowling at the rain soaked earth beneath my cleated feet. My dad noticed my sour mood, “What’s wrong with you? You won the game.”
“The coach pulled me out to soon! I didn’t score any goals!” I seethed back in frustration.
My dad’s response was calm and cool, “Sean, you seem to care more about scoring goals than winning the game. It’s a team sport, you are not alone on the field.”
That statement changed everything in the way I played for the rest of my life.

"It's a team sport, you are not alone on the field." This is something that I have tried to implement in other areas of my life as well. I don’t always practice TEAM the way I should but I really want to. In some places, it’s easier to make that happen then in others. It may not be easy to do in the EOS ecosystem but I think it's an incredible place to bring the power of team to life.

I loved it when the new season would start and we’d spend weeks getting in shape, running drills, practicing and tightening up our game. We worked really hard to prepare ourselves and get ready for the new season and then finally, the first match. It was that first moment when we found out if everything we had been doing was right, if it would be enough to see us through.

It’s been awhile since I was out on the soccer pitch but my EOS experience has felt much the same. Being on a team, practicing, preparing, running drills and tightening up our game and I don’t just mean eos sw/eden, I mean the whole EOS Community. It has been fantastic to be a part of something so huge, across the whole world, on a team of teams working together to make this happen. It is truly something for all of us to be proud of.

Recently, Adrian Hunter from SaltBlock.io (a block producer candidate) noticed we had a problem with one of our banners on a voting portal. He reached out to Eric to offer his help in getting it squared away. I was able to get him the corrected banner but HE made sure things were updated. Some people might wonder why he would do that because he’s not on my team. I know why. In a way, he actually is…
He’s on our team - not sw/eden but OUR team --- the EOS team.

The truth is, when I first went to college, I hadn’t planned on playing soccer. I didn’t think I was good enough. But the previous year, a lot of players had graduated and the team was gutted. They needed people in a bad way. In fact, they even recruited a couple guys who had literally never played competitive soccer in their lives, just to have a couple people on the bench. Our team ended being a mix of international students from the Caribbean, Asia, South America, Central America and just 4 North Americans. The chatter on the field was a crazy mix of Creole, Spanish and a tiny bit of English. It was beautiful. We came together that first game and surprised everyone, except maybe ourselves because we knew we had found a way to play the game together. Our team of 15 players from six different countries found a way to make it work. When that amazing season came to an end, our team was second in the nation in our association. One of the big reasons why is because we never stopped working and doing what we needed to in order to play our best game - in order to play as a team.

We are not alone on the field. This is where we are with EOS, this great big beautiful team of teams from all over the world, we have just won our first game and we have proven we have what it takes. Now for the rest of this rookie season, we get to hone our skills, get better at understanding one another and continue building EOS together. I am so excited and proud to be a part of it, to be on this field with all of you!