Lessons From A Soccer Son

He was only ten years old and he brought a hush over the entire crowd as he executed a perfect bicycle kick from the sideline to a team mate in front of the goal. A few years earlier I can remember him as a pee-wee player. He waited patiently as his team was getting beat goal after goal after goal. Finally the frustration got the better of him. He took the ball to himself, didn’t think of passing to a team mate, wove and dribbled through the other team and went down and slapped a shot into the net. But only once. Out of frustration he had to show the other team, and his own team, that it could be done. We can score. We just have to want it. I kind of wanted him to keep doing it, to dominate the game, to show he was the best player out there. Maybe so I could strut after the game and say, “That’s my boy!” But he didn’t. He settled back down, preferring that his team do it together.

In high school he began to excel at defense. In his very first year his team went to the state playoffs and in three games the opposing teams could not score a goal. His team advanced and won 3rd place in the state, winning several games in a shootout. His team mates selected him and the goalie as their MVP for the season. Throughout high school he helped several more teams, both school and club, go to state playoffs, state semi-finals, and state championship games. His first and only year of playing college soccer his team came one game short of going to the national play-offs. When his coach called to see whether he was going to continue in college he told me that he would miss him greatly. He said that he was probably the best entering freshman he had ever recruited in over twenty years of coaching. I marveled at times. He had an innate ability to help his team play above their ability. He didn’t know he was doing it, he just wanted the team to excel, and helped lift them up.

Teamwork, simply stated, is this: Less of me, more of we. No stealing the show to yourself. No room for pride. No slacking off and expecting others to carry your load. Rather, striving to make others excel. Seeing the whole picture, not merely your cubicle. Helping and encouraging the weaker team member. Sharing the success and glory with every team member. Covering the back of the one who falters. Trusting others to cover your back. Playing to the strength of others and not criticizing their weakness. Sacrificing so that others may succeed and improve.

One of the greatest thrills this Dad has enjoyed were the many, many soccer games I’ve watched my sons play. But beyond the thrill was the realization that even I was learning a lesson, the importance of teamwork, while watching my soccer son.

“In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. (Romans 12:5-6)