Losing Blows

Losing Blows.

Strike a nerve? I’m happy to have your attention.

But honestly, losing truly blows.

 I hated losing when I was a kid and it hasn’t changed now that I am an adult. But losing is a part of life and it is certainly a part of athletics. No matter what, every time two teams take the field or the court, one of them will lose.

How you handle defeat and how you carry yourself after a loss speaks about who you are as a person. It reveals your true character… even more than winning does. Your true character comes to light during adversity.

Don’t get me wrong, losing should hurt and you should feel disappointed. If it doesn’t hurt then it doesn’t matter, and if it doesn’t matter… why even play?

Feeling hurt and disappointed is OK. Don’t hide from your emotions. Embrace them for a short period of time. Then, find a way to allow it to motivate you. You need to get back to work. Losing, isn’t permanent.

Losing is never an excuse to be a bad teammate, to give up coaching your team, to make excuses or to show poor sportsmanship.

Don’t let losing define you – as a player, as a coach, or as a person.

We live in a competitive world. Competitiveness itself is not a negative trait, but learning to lose graciously is a very, very difficult skill (one, I’m still working on it)… but it is necessary as a player, a coach, and a person.

Challenge! Will you commit to being resilient…to teaching your athletes to be resilient? Resiliency sets athletes up for success because they learn that failure isn’t the end of the world. It’s just a chance to get back to work and to try again.