Will you be ready to step in when your number is called?
Some coaches refer to it as "being ready when your number is called."
Will you be ready to go when you're suddenly needed?
Especially now, as the postseasons in some IHSA sports are underway and others are about to begin.
A teammate gets sick or becomes ineligible. Maybe a star gets injured or a basketball player gets into foul trouble.
Or maybe a coach just decides he needs to try something different to make something happen.
It happened to Anthony Smedley, who was inserted in the final seconds of the 1963 boys basketball state championship game by Carver coach Larry Hawkins, who recently passed away.
Centralia led by a point with the ball before more than 16,000 in the first tourney at the University of Illinois' Assembly Hall. Smedley came in, stole the ball, dribbled to the corner and fired.
The sophomore's only shot of the tournament became one of the most memorable in its history as it splashed through the net to give Carver a state championship.
One of the legendary stories at my high school was in 1960 when York's baseball team was struggling and a bunch of upperclassmen were kicked off the team by coach Erl Ellingson.
A bunch of underclassmen stepped in and wound up being part of an improbable run to a state championship.
And my freshman year there, a couple of legendary cross country coach Joe Newton's top runners were hurt in a car accident a week before the state meet.
A couple of other runners stepped in and came through with stellar races and they ended up winning a title trophy in Peoria.
Former Bulls broadcaster and East Leyden basketball star Tom Dore said preparation for every scenario made Norm Goodman one of the most successful coaches in state history.
So, when two starters were sick and couldn't play in a state tournament game, Dore said Goodman calmly told two reserves this was what they had prepared for all season.
They stepped in and East Leyden survived and advanced.
Waiting patiently for that possible opportunity isn't easy. Especially for a senior who might be wondering, especially late in a season, if there will ever be any glory for the time and effort.
But that's one of the wonderful parts of sports - particularly at the high school level. Former Hersey football coach Bruce Glover once said if his quarterback gets injured, there is no waiver wire to turn to or trade route to take.
You go with what you have and hope they're ready. You hope they were still working in case something happened and not off to the side goofing off or thinking about other things.
And who knows? If you were ready when your number is called, you could end up one of the chosen few to produce a memorable moment such as Anthony Smedley.
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com