That song has been in my head all day. Even though it is about baseball, it was very appropriate for my son’s hockey game today. A month and a half or so ago I posted about my son’s lowest-of-low points, a game where he not only got beat, but was completely beaten. Today was the second of two match ups with that same team – this time on their home rink. I told him the other day that he was playing them again this weekend.
His response?
“I want to beat them!”
I loved hearing that – no fear, no backing away from the challenge. Good stuff.
However, the decision about who is in net when is not mine to make. So, I told him that if he wanted to play in that game, he had to ask his coach. He was not sure what to say so his dad and I coached him on how to approach his coach and what he could say. At the first practice of the week, he chickened out and did not ask. He said he was scared that his coach might get mad at him. I explained that while his coach may not put him in net for that game, for whatever reason, there is no coach out there that would be mad to hear that a player wanted to face an opponent that had beaten them before.
So, at the next practice, my boy summoned his courage and asked his coach, who said exactly that – he would think about it, but he was very happy to hear that my son wanted this challenge.
Long story short, my son played today against that team and played very well. His team played well as a whole and I saw some great teamwork and loved how they had each other’s back. The outcome, while not movie-perfect (they were ahead 3-2 with less than a minute left and with .004 on the clock, the other team scored to end in a tie), was so much better than last time and my son was all smiles afterwards.
Another life lesson learned – “nothing ventured, nothing gained.” He had to let his coach know how he felt or take whatever was assigned to him. So he ventured – asked the coach – and gained – redeemed himself in his own eyes for the prior performance.
I’ll save my observations about how I felt through all of this, particularly during the game today, for another post. Suffice to say, I am learning some lessons of my own on this hockey journey of ours.
Tending the Goalie 