Ogden: Tourney celebrates life, mourns death of friend

Sports, we are taught from a very young age, offer many valuable life lessons.

We learn about working as a team, even if we don't agree or even like everyone on our team. We learn about focus, discipline and work ethic. We learn - or are supposed to learn - to win with grace and lose with dignity. We find friendships that last a lifetime.

Sports also teach us how to cope with loss, whether it be a game or in life.

Sports offer a distraction, a motivation or a source of celebration when a family member or a friend dies. We've all heard stories about the player who took the field or court after a parent or friend died because “that's what they would have wanted.”

Road races, softball tournaments and golf outings are held nearly every weekend as memorials or celebrations of someone's life.

Late last night, a large group of friends wrapped up another Claytonian golf tournament around Guttenberg. For the second time in three years, we celebrated the life - and mourned the death - of one of our brothers.

Doug Chadima died in January, much too young at 49. A Cedar Rapids Regis athlete in the late 1970s, Doug loved being outdoors - playing softball and, especially, golfing and fishing in his adult years. He loved coaching teams his son, Reece, played for.

The Claytonian was one of his favorite events, from the Saturday morning golf to playing his guitar with friends at Bill's Boat Landing that night. His infectious smile was missed this year.

I met Doug during our much younger days, playing baseball at Van Vechten. We later hooked up on the same slow-pitch softball team.

The lessons we learned growing up on those baseball, football and basketball teams apply today. We move on after a loss. We don't forget, but we learn how to be better as we get ready for the next hurdle.

As we grow older and face more and more losses along life's road, we learn sports are games and nothing more. We cheer, we moan and we may even get a little ticked off at times.

But we use them for different reasons now - providing us that needed distraction from the grind and as a great reason to gather with family and friends.

We realize we're still learning from all those cliches we've heard since we first stepped on a court or put on a helmet.

So enjoy the games. Remember the moments. Cherish the friends.

- By J.R. Ogden