Life is full of turf lessons

This column was originally published in Writer’s Block in the May 3, 2017 edition of The Chronotype, Rice Lake, Wisconsin.

When the whistle blows at the beginning of 90 minutes, my heart still skips. For the anticipation of battle, fighting for a ball, running so hard that everything hurts, outmaneuvering a defender, and of course putting the ball into the back of the net and never knowing absolutely whether it will be enough for a win. Until time runs out.

For the life lessons it allowed me to explode into, I will forever be indebted to the game of soccer. It is so fundamental to who I am as a person and a strong tether throughout my family. So, trying to pay it forward, I feel so fortunate that I am in the middle of coaching at the high school level for the first time this spring. And as we have heard from other conference coaches, it is one of the most-talented Rice Lake girls’ soccer teams to come through in years, possibly ever.

For the players, every time they step out onto the field, it is a performance, an opportunity, one that cannot be duplicated or choreographed ever again, so the anxiety is for the unknowns— the unpredictable speed, smart plays, physical altercations. Decisions have to be made faster than a split second, anticipation of a player’s moves and moving in anticipation have to be steps ahead of the opponent.

Eleven graduating Rice Lake seniors will never play on a high school pitch again with these specific mates after this season. Oh, some will go on to play at the college level or intramurals. And some will never play again. So in my opening season speech I implored this group to soak it up. Take the moments under the lights and savor the feelings of victory and defeat, and let them shape you.

Let the heartache of loss prepare you for many failures going forward. Find your humility in the win and know that you earned it fairly and cleanly with integrity. Let the decisions you make on the field carry you forward into making the best decisions in this life, and know that even the best intentions fail sometimes. Love each other through your hard fight, the brutal schedule of trying to juggle practice, three games a week, school, impending graduations, your friends and family, remembering you are not alone.

Let your ability to apply your priorities to a commitment you made carry you forward into a lifetime of follow-through to all things you deem important.

And when the whistle blows and time is up, know that you left it all on the field— every tear, every fight, all the joy, leaving the field a little better than when you entered it.