A
Parent Talks to a Child Before the First Game
by
Tom Fakehany
I’ve quoted
before in my e-notes from one of my favorite little books
called Wooden: A lifetime of Observations
and Reflections On and Off the Court by former UCLA Coach John Wooden. Here’s
another marvelous passage called, “A Parent Talks to a Child Before the First
Game”:
This is your
first game, my child. I hope you win. I hope you win for
your sake, not mine. Because winning’s
nice. It’s a good feeling.
Like the whole world is yours. But, it
passes, this feeling. And what
lasts is what you’ve learned. And what
you learn about is life. That’s
what sports is all about. Life. The whole
thing is played but in an
afternoon. The happiness of life. The
miseries. The joys. The
heartbreaks.
There’s no
telling what’ll turn up. There’s no telling whether they’ll
toss you out in the first five minutes or
whether you’ll stay for the
long haul. There’s no telling how
you’ll do. You might be a hero or you might be absolutely nothing. There’s
just no telling. Too much depends on chance. On how the ball bounces.
I’m not
talking about the game, my child. I’m talking about life. But
it’s life that the game is all about.
Just as I said. Because every
game is life. And life is a game. A
serious game. Dead
serious. But that’s what you do with
serious things. You do
your best. You take what comes. And you
run with it.
Winning is fun.
Sure. But winning is not the point. Wanting to win is
the point. Not giving up is the point.
Never being satisfied with what
you’ve done is the point. Never letting
up is the point. Never letting
anyone down is the point. Play to win.
Sure. But lose like a champion.
It’s not
winning that counts. What counts is trying.
