performance

so i've decided that attitude really does make a difference in how we view life and approach things.....perspective can be such a gift...if you have it great....noah played a very intense soccer game today, yes intense at 8 all from the dads and coaches....nice huh.... his team ranked number 2 in his division and they want to stay up there...we were back and forth up one down one and the poor ref took a beating from the other teams coach....it was a legit call but it gave our kid a direct kick on goal and our kid missed anyway but man the coach couldn't recover.....the big bad woof huffing and puffing up and down the sidelines...they should have carded him....just to pull rank for his terrible sportsmanship.....these kids are 8 for crying out loud!!!!! .....and the game ended up as a tie with one of our goals being called back at the last minute...off sides a questionable call the ball was in front of the player but whatever....i was glad that our coaches contained themselves but our head coach was to frustrated to talk to the players with his traditional 15 minute after game speech.....it's a little football locker room to me but what do i know......so as i'm passing out gatorade and gushers to our kiddos...i see the other coach walk directly passed us and his child says "Dad we tied today, huh...." and the dad is ranting and raving fuming and just angry and he tells his child, "you did not tie! i will not tell you you tied that game when a ref gives a direct shot on goal to the other team with a bad call!....." very loud and not even containing himself at all.......i'm so realizing at that moment how little lies get started and seed truth in someone's mind....our player missed that shot!!!! all i could think is poor kid....i can't stand the blame game....it's always someone else's fault.....i've been privy my entire life to taking the blame when i was not to blame.... in the end i've realized at 31 years old that justice is not mine.....i've learned you really can't change the little lies parents tell themselves to feel better about decisions and actions their children partake in....yes it would be nice if our kids all had halo's but they don't and the best thing we can teach them is to take responsibility for their actions....i was glad later that jess pep talked noah telling him that, "you never lose a game because a ref makes a bad call even if it's 2 seconds to go and a ref makes a really bad call and the other team scores on a pk....your team should have been up by two...then you still would have won....." I loved that whole don't even let it be close attitude....never leave room for your competition to move in unexpectedly....don't ride the fence.... this whole saga is making me love the sport of gymnastics..... yes the pressure to perform is like nothing i've ever seen, but it's self reliant to the point that if your kid falls flat on his face during a front tuck vault run...it's not the judges fault, or a bad assist.....and your kid has to pick themselves up, finish a routine that will be judged accordingly and quickly recover because the next apparatus is still staring them in the face within 5 minutes.... no excuses.....even after an embarrassing score is posted.....it's humbling and the rewards for success are that much sweeter.....at the end of the day all the kids are sweating..... soccer, baseball, gymnastics, tennis, football....just exhausted from their best efforts and even in a tie or defeat they need a pat on the back for getting in the game....let's face it the more i see the more i realize the competition is fierce....winning? losing? how we play the game.