Today's blog was written by J.C. Obringer, a former Play Like a Champion intern and a sophomore at Ball State University.
Everyone wants to win that championship, there are thousands and thousands of teams that compete for various championships across the world. For the past several weeks, Little League teams from across the country and around the world have converged on Williamsport, Pennsylvania to compete in the Little League World Series for the World Championship.
There have been several stories that have come out of the Series this year. One of the most moving was not about winners or a stellar play, but instead about what happens when the team loses. What do you say to a hand full of 8-12 year boys that
are starting to tear up right after losing the biggest game of their lives? David Belisle could not have said it any better.
One of the hardest things as a coach is teaching these
young boys and girls that it is not all about winning. While winning is fun, you can't
win every game. One of the toughest lessons to teach kids is that winning isn’t
everything. At a young age kids are very
competitive and want that win. Belisle made it clear that pride is really what
matters. As a coach the best feeling in
the world is watching your kids have fun. Seeing them lose isn’t fun. But, as Belisle said, if
you fight and never give up, at the end of the day you are all winners. When
they walk away knowing they did the best they did and they are walking off the
field with the best thing anyone can take away from the game is: Pride.
David Belisle made it clear that he was not mad that they
lost and the only thing he would be sad about is not being able to coach this
group of boys anymore. This is a great example of the impact a coach can
have on their players. These kids will remember this journey for life and who
lead this on this journey. This speech is what you look for in a coach--developing kids and preparing them for the next level, in sport and in life.
