For the past 8 years, I have always enjoyed watching my son Dylan play soccer. Yes, I enjoy watching my daughter Amanda play too. Dylan just has such a passion for the sport that enables him to play at an all-star level well beyond anything I could ever imagine.
Sure, watching him score countless goals game after game is pretty cool. My joy doesn’t come from the score though. It comes from that pure joy I see in his eye the minute he steps on the pitch. Whether it’s at practice or in a real match or even when he’s just kicking the ball around in his makeshift field under our house, his love of the sport simply exudes him – all the time!
Last week, Dylan attended a sleepover soccer camp hosted by the national AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization for those non-soccer parents among us…) staff, and I was quickly reminded of this innocent childish exuberance when I picked him up. It was actually the head coach’s final remarks about one of the other campers Grant and his bum foot at the closing ceremony that brought it back for me. Grant apparently hurt his foot on the 2nd day of camp. When this coach noticed Grant was crying on the sidelines afterwards, he approached him and asked if it hurt that bad. Grant, likely made from the same soccer DNA as my son Dylan, quickly replied, “No coach. I just want to play.”
According to this same head coach, almost 23,000 young adults play organized youth sports in America every year. Of them, less than 5% apparently make it to the high school-level, and less than 4% to the collegiate level. Let’s not even talk about the less than 1% that go pro or those gifted few who get to represent their countries at the Olympics once every 4 years let alone take home Olympic Gold! Yet, even with strict coaches yelling instructions at them and loss after loss registering on the score boards, many of these 23,000 youth still approach their sports with that same innocent childish exuberance as Grant and Dylan and just as committed and passionate as if Olympic Gold may in fact be in their futures.
What if we all approached our lives – yes, and those dreaded moments at work too! – like Grant and Dylan? It’s not about winning. It’s about how we play the game – the game called soccer, and especially the game called life. I remember when Dylan broke his foot last year, and his future soccer career was brought into question. Like Grant, he didn’t care so much about the staph infection or week-long hospital stay. He just wanted to get back on the field and play.
These are the experiences that clearly touch the hearts and minds of even the most seasoned senior coaches. As a father, as a business leader, and as a trusted advisor for my many clients, this is the type of environment I invite us all to create and live into every day – one that is filled with innocent childish exuberance and passion and commitment for all that we do. Just think of what would be possible if we created this positive, nurturing climate in all facets of our lives!
