Okay, folks, wanted to share a bit from my recent “field observation,” if you wanna call it that. I made it a point to go see the Bishop McNamara soccer team play the other day. And I wasn’t just there for the hot dogs, no sir. I specifically wanted to watch how they handled the ebb and flow of a tough match, especially when the chips were down. It’s a little habit of mine, trying to see beyond the scoreboard when I watch any team, really.
So, I settled in. For the first part of the game, Bishop McNamara looked pretty sharp. They were moving the ball well, had a couple of players with some fancy footwork who could definitely create chances. When they were ahead, they looked confident, almost cruising. Everything seemed to click into place. Smooth passing, good movement off the ball. I was nodding along, thinking, “Alright, this team has got something.”
But then, as it happens in soccer, the tide started to turn. The other team, who were no slouches themselves, dug in and managed to score. And then, not too long after, they bagged another one. That’s when my “practice” of observing really kicked in. How would McNamara respond now that they were suddenly chasing the game?
Well, that smooth machine I saw earlier? It started to sputter. It wasn’t a total collapse, mind you, but the change was noticeable. Here’s what I jotted down in my mental notebook:
- Shoulders definitely slumped a bit on a few players. You could just see that initial confidence take a hit.
- The on-field chat, which was lively enough when they were controlling things, seemed to quiet down. More frustrated gestures, less constructive talk.
- A couple of players started trying to do too much on their own, maybe trying to force things instead of trusting the team play that worked earlier.
Now, I’m not here to bash a high school team. Heavens, no. They kept battling, and that’s important. But that shift in their collective body language and strategy when faced with adversity was really telling. It’s a classic challenge at any level of sport, but especially with younger athletes still learning the ropes of mental toughness.
This whole scene took me back. Years ago, I was helping coach my son’s youth soccer team – we’re talking under-10s here. They were a great bunch of kids, full of energy. When we were winning, they looked like world-beaters, all smiles and high-fives. But if we conceded a goal, or if a decision went against them? Oh boy. It was like the sky was falling for some of them. We spent so much time not just on drills, but on talking about how to handle frustration, how to pick each other up, how to keep playing our game even when things weren’t going our way. It was a real practical exercise in resilience, week in, week out.
And that’s what I saw unfolding with the Bishop McNamara players. They’ve clearly got talent and have put in the work on their skills. But learning to navigate those pressure moments as a cohesive unit, to maintain composure and communication when you’re down – that’s a different kind of practice. It’s forged in the fire of tough games like the one I watched. Some players seemed to be handling it better than others, already showing that grit. For others, it was visibly a tough lesson being learned right there on the pitch. It’s all part of their development. Honestly, seeing that struggle and the potential for growth is just as interesting to me as watching a flawless victory. That’s where the real character of a team gets built.
