occer for Fun

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

Lilliland was very active when it came to sports. There was always some sport or activity going on in season.

One of the favorite activities for young people was club soccer. There were six teams, each the name of a colorful bird, i.e., the red bird, yellow bird, blue bird, black bird, gray bird, and orange bird teams.

At a recent discussion among the Baron, his chief advisor, Professor Hamblin, and his fiancée, Lady Angela of Alpine Castle, the topic of kid’s soccer came up. It seemed strange, but the team that was the most popular, the blue birds, seemed to have the worst winning record of all the teams in the league. Why would parents go out of their way to sign their children up to play on a team that seemed to lose as often as it won?

There were no special rewards for members of the blue bird team, other than those of any other team.

Lady Angela decided to ask some of the parents who signed their children up to play on the blue bird team. She thought that maybe the uniforms were more appealing, or that the coach was somehow better. But how could he be better if his team lost so many times?

The Professor thought that maybe the children on the blue bird team had a better time together while participating in the sport.

One parent told Lady Angela that she signed her child up on the blue bird team because the coach believed in active participation on the field, in actually games, by everyone on the team, no matter if they were very good players, or just average players.

“That must be the key,” Lady Angela told the Baron and the Professor. “It is the chance to play and participate. Everyone feels that they are a member of the first string of players.”

The winning or losing record was secondary to having everyone who went out for the team, made the team, and played in the games.

Other teams were so worried about their winning record that they forgot the real reason for having the activity and that was to make sure that players had fun, win or lose.

When players sat on the bench, never to play in a real game, they quickly lost interest in the sport. “I let everyone play in every game and no one sits out the game on the bench,” said the blue bird team coach. “That’s why the blue bird team is so popular, win or lose.”