You Have to Hate to Lose

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with Mr. Castillo in my office after school and we noticed several young men running past my window over and over.  They must have run by a half dozen times before I noticed them. Once we started to pay attention, we realized that these young men were all members of our soccer team. We watched them run by for over 30 minutes before my curiosity got the best of me. I had to know why Coach Sullivan was making them run.

Upon further investigation, I learned that in the previous day's game. Coach Sullivan felt that his team had given up in a loss. They did not show grit and that was not acceptable. The team had lost that game 7-1 and they had to run a mile for every point they had given up. As each player passed Coach Sullivan, they all chanted the same phrase, "I hate losing Coach." According to Coach Sullivan, losing was ok, but giving up was not.

Earlier in the season, our soccer team lost to Northern Nash 10-1 and the game ended under the mercy rule. Something like that hurts for an athlete and it can certainly plague a team if they face that opponent again. Last night our soccer team defeated Northern Nash 3-1.  Teaching grit does not mean that you never lose. It means that you teach our young people to fight through losing so that you eventually win.  I have also seen this ideal translate to the classroom for many of these young men and ultimately, that's the point. Congratulations to Coach Sullivan and the young men on our soccer team for their grit.