high school soccer coach apologized after letting a player score 17 goals against winless team

[GulfCoast66]

72. When I was a kid playing baseball the first year our team was all very young kids.

We got absolutely killed every game. I guess this was before the mercy rule thing. We routinely got beat 10-12 or 15 to zero. Our parents just told us to work harder. Fast forward 3 years. We all stuck together and were now the more experienced and frankly more hard working ones. We won our division killing some younger teams. Lost in regionals because my pitching got hit. Still remember the feeling of letting my team down, but it was a lesson.

We would never had appreciated what we accomplished had our parents stepped in to prevented our feelings being hurt. And they were. I still remember crying after some of those early games. But it made us try harder.

I guess I’m just too hard hearted. But I was elementary aged when this took place. These kids are high school kids. They can take it. It’s their parents who are so bent out of shape. I can’t imagine in a million years my dad complaining about me losing badly in a fair competition. Other player far superior? Work harder.

I learned that when I lost, I should work harder and try to get better. These kids are being shown that they should complain about it.

I know this won’t be a popular post, but it is my experience. And I would trade it for nothing. It helped form my early understanding of competition and the value of hard work.