What a victory!

CJ's high school JV soccer team had a game last night against a local team that we all knew would give us pretty tough competition. CJ's been struggling a bit all season & seemed to have lost some of the intensity & motivation that he had previously had. Anyway, I had just sent the varsity coach an email yesterday afternoon to see if he wouldn't mind taking CJ inside & talking to him a bit - my thinking is that a little pep talk from a coach (and a former college player) would be alot more credible than coming from his dad or I, and of course the coach said "sure - no problem.."

The game got started right on time - the weather has finally turned here so we were bundled up pretty good. Rain was supposed to come into the area late last night & so we all had our fingers crossed that it would hold off until after the end of the game. Our team played extremely well the first half dominating the entire time - CJ never went in, instead he sat on the bench looking bummed out & cold (until finally he put his sweatshirt on). Right before the end of the half - one of the players on CJ's team scored, putting us ahead 1-0. The second half started, still no CJ on the field. Our players continued to play strong & about midway through the second half CJ started warming up with a big smile on his face. And suddenly the rain started pouring down. We all pulled out our umbrellas & continued to cheer the boys on in what we hoped would be another victory. CJ was barely on the field a minute, when we noticed it - it was like a light bulb had gone off & everything had clicked for him again. He was on fire! With 10 minutes left in the game a team mate passed him the ball & he sprinted past a defender & hightailed it into the box. The goalie dove out but CJ popped it right into the goal! (putting the score at 2-0) What a glorious moment! We all stood up & cheered and one of the defenders lifted CJ up high up into the air. He was beaming....

Unfortunately, our team got overly confident and let up alot. The other team rallied & scored twice with 5 minutes left in the game. Despire our team's best efforts, they couldn't manage to put another goal in the net, the game ended tied 2-2.

Although a tie, is not nearly as good as a win, CJ's team is still undefeated for the season. And depite the fact that we did not win, CJ's goal was a very important moment for him. It was a victory of sorts. He finally found the spark and the intensity that he once had & laid it all out last night on the field. He gave it 150% & didn't let up - not for one second, even when the rest of the team did. Even after the other team tied the score up, CJ continued to yell to his team mates "Come on - don't let up, let's keep going...we can do it!!"

Like the old saying goes, "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game". It's being a true athlete - and putting your entire heart & soul into the game that makes you a champion & that's exactly what CJ did last night.