Headed to the Championship!
October 24, 2005 | By Charmaine Yoest
The Dude with Coach Giddy
The score yesterday was 24-0. We're headed to the 'ship! As in champion-ship.
But from the coaches' post-game fire-and-brimstone lecture, an onlooker would have thought we had lost.
A part of me wonders if they are being too hard on the boys. Another part of me remembers the gut-wrenching loss from last year. After an undefeated season, watching nine-year-old boys walk off the field in tears, the trophy eluding them.
And as I watch some of the other teams wander onto the field, while ours marches out crisply, I see that the emphasis our coaches put on discipline makes a crucial difference. Maybe the fundamental difference.
Win or lose, that's a lesson that translates to life.
A win in this coming Saturday's game gives us a ticket to the regional brackets. . . the prize at the end of our trek through the Eastern Region of Pennyslvania, NJ and New York, is a berth to the Pop Warner Superbowl at Disneyworld the first week in December.
The boys are talking about sunscreen; some of the parents are singing "M.I.C. . K.E.Y. . ."
But what does it take to get there?
I'll let you know what I find out.
Comments
Youth sports and the desire to be a winner on and off the field takes a balance that I have found is never perfect on both sides when it comes to coaches and the philosohpy to win.
Coaching 9 and 10 year olds to a championship after they have gone undeafeated and only scored on in a single game is a challange that requires a very careful and narrow plan when you have 6 more weeks to win before you go to Disney. At the end these kids will be 14 - 0. How do you manage personalities, desire, parents, and everything else for so long? Be Safe....praise your players, but keep them focused.
On one hand overly praising them to be SUPERSTARS may force them into "WE CAN BEAT ANYONE" attitudes. This week in the 'ship is
that much more crucial because the kids have beaten this team prior.
BALANCE - That is what it takes to be a champion and to coach a champion. Some do it better than others others.
GOOD LUCK HURRICANES!
Julius
Posted by: Julius | October 26, 2005 9:19 AM