Sometimes you lose. Nothing you can do but admit it
Boys' Prep football players
The Boys’ Preparatory prides itself on offering a varied and comprehensive sporting programme (14 sports in total). Furthermore, our sports programme aims to include as many boys as possible, and yes, we do play to be competitive.
Our sports programme is part of the development of our boys. Losing a fixture is where true learning happens as our grit and character gets tested.
One such moment presented itself with our U11A football team – a team which has quality boys and quality footballers. In a recent 3-1 loss, the half-time team talk and post-match reflection gifted me with a humbling reminder as to the gift of sport but, more importantly, as to the depth of character our boys revealed.
To provide the game context: the match was highly contested with quality skills on display. Two goals scored against the Saints team were sublime to say the least for the age group on display. No excuses… a great result against us. As we discussed the first half, our squad verbalised the following:
Losing ... really does say something about who we are and what we stand for. It measures whether we blame others, or do you own the loss? We analysed the loss and did not complain about bad luck. Our analysis led us to examine our “failure” and to look not just at our outward physical performance, but our internal workings, too Losing became valuable.
As a teacher, the "Aha!" moment was that how we behave in those moments can perhaps be more self-defining than winning could ever be. Sometimes losing shows you for who you really are. I can honestly account for the tremendous sportsmanship showed by our boys.
Our post-match message would best be put into words by making use of the following quote:
“Losing is only temporary and not all encompassing. You must simply study it, learn from it, and try hard not to lose the same way again. Then you must have the self-control to forget about it”. – John Wooden, in the 1001 Motivational Messages and Quotations for Athletes and Coaches.
I believe this team (and all our boys) engage in sport for all the right reasons. Our boys have varied sporting skills and abilities but a shared quality in equal proportions is their maturity to learn from victories and defeats.
Yours in education
Mr. Q Pascoe – U11 football
