Iโm a long-time youth sports coach. Many of the kids I know are aging out of these programs. Some go out โon top,โ but others have had a tough time. Almost all have had both experiences over the years. I recently posted this for those Iโve coached:
I hope you had fun along the way.
I hope you made some lifelong friends.
I hope you had at least one season, game or single play to remember.
I hope you know that not everyone is so lucky.
I hope you had at least one coach who recognized your effort, if not your ability.
Butโฆ
I also hope you had at least one coach or team that didnโt seem to appreciate you or your effort. I donโt say this to be cruel (and I hope I wasnโt that coach), but because if you did, you learned some important lessons โ like, you canโt control someone elseโs opinion, or sometimes itโs just not fair. Just like real life. We all experience difficult co-workers, bosses or relationships. Thatโs part of life. I hope any bad or disappointing experiences/teams/coaches helped you appreciate the good ones even more. Thatโs part of life, too.
Most of all, I hope you have learned that hard work will always make you a better player. Hard work never made anyone a worse player. Sometimes, the rewards of hard work come quickly, but mostly the rewards take years. Sometimes, you feel like you deserve better (and sometimes youโre right about that), but that doesnโt diminish that your hard work made YOU better. I hope you take these lessons with you into the world beyond sport.
Brian
What Kids Learn By Being on Sports Teams