Fatherhood Reflections LXVII - Learning To Lose

About two weekends ago, it was my son's regular bi-weekly Sunday friendly match within his football school.

The boy's class was up against a team a year older.

Already I knew things were not gonna be good when the coach was already mentally prepping my son and his teammates that this was gonna be a tough match.

10mins into the match, the opponents were already 0-3 up.

The boy was starting to get emotional and I could clearly see he was taking this match harder and harder with every goal.

By halftime, the score was already 0-6 or something and my son was literally crying on the pitch.

Basically crying while playing.

The referee could see it.

His teammates could see it.

The parents watching the match could see it.

He actually played the best in his team that day.

He played far more aggressively than normal and the referee even had to warn him.

They lost 0-11 by fulltime.

The opponent's coach had to instruct his team to give up possession by the fourth pass. How embarrassing.

I felt really helpless.

All I could do was to shout at him that it was ok.

In hindsight, it was a good learning experience for him.

I hope he learns to deal with the disappointment of loss better after this.

Sigh.