Although we lost both of our games (without even scoring one goal!), there was still a great sense of fraternity and friendship among our seminary competitors.
Our losses to both "the Mount" and St. Charles Seminary were not the desired outcome of the weekend. Nevertheless, I think there were some important lessons we were all able to learn from that weekend.
First, we learned how to be humble. Very humble! While we had trained hard leading up to the tournament, our team was simply outplayed by the other teams. It isn't always easy to swallow one's pride and admit that others are better (in this case much better) than you! Humility has a way of making us grateful for those gifts that we possess and appreciative of the gifts and talents of others.
Secondly, we learned the need to show goodwill towards the seminarians on the other teams. Yes, it was agitating to lose both games. It would have been easy to vent our frustration against the other teams, to see them as real opponents. But if we lacked goodwill, then we would have missed the reality that these other seminarians were truly good men, seeking only to have fun in competition and to make new friends.
And finally, we were reminded to have fun. As men, we can sometimes take sports pretty seriously. By nature, we desire to win and achieve. Yet, that was not the case that weekend. Rather than being sore losers, we were able to make light of the situation, still able to laugh even when our team was down by six goals. If we lack humor and joy in our lives, how can we sustain ourselves through life's truly difficult moments!?
These are some of the life lessons learned from the great sport of soccer. We are grateful for such lessons in life. Still, the competitive spirit lives on...my teammates and I look forward to training for next year's tournament!
 |
| St. Mary's Seminary Soccer Team (2014) |
