The Loss

“That's what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we've changed because of it and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning.”
-- Richard Bach

My daughter started playing soccer in the Fall of 2009, on a 6th-8th grade team. In the league, they maintain the teams with the coaches, so she's basically had the same teammates and coach for the past two years. And in the 20 or so games played, her team has never lost a game. Until today.

It was the first game of the spring season, and maybe the girls were just a little rusty. They looked a little lethargic during the first 5 minutes of the game, and suffered a penalty that resulted in the other team scoring early.

I know they will recover and go on to win future games. After all, winning isn't everything, and what you take away from the loss is what's important.

Some of my favorite shots from the game:


In the picture below, #12 had just scored the team's only goal, right before end of the first half.


For my daughter, it's all about the socks! She collects them (or rather, she picks them out and I pay for them).


One of Erica's attempts on goal:


Next week's game starts really early and I hope the girls rest up for a return to the winner's circle.