The Wild Weekend

This past weekend in State Cup games, we saw 3 particular teams lose their bid at State Titles. All 3 had won multiple State Championships and all 3 go out in the Quarterfinals. I think many times in youth soccer and in life the better team or better person doesn't always win. It just goes to show people that on any given day the best can look normal, average, or even below average.

I'm happy for the 3 teams that won, but remember it was the Quarters and all could be wasted by thinking it was the Championship. You still have 2 games remaining in order to make these wins stick and mean something. Big wins...YES.... important wins.....YES....State Championships.....NO. Be proud and enjoy them, but remember you have games still to play. My favorite saying and it truly applies to these teams as well, "People only remember your last game".

I'd also like to say to the 3 that lost, keep your heads up and learn from the loss. This is not the end of the road, in fact it's more like a Y in the road. It may be a path to bigger and better things. I know all of them have tournaments scheduled in the future, tournaments that are among thr best in the country. They will all have their glory again, and there is no shame in losing. They will all make our State proud again, and I'm positive it's not the last we've heard from them. Keep working and keep the faith, because many people in your club believe in you, and many outside your club believe in you.

I know there are many other great games that happened this weekend. There were many deserving teams that won or lost for that matter. I personally just wanted to take the time to talk about these 3 for a few reasons. All 3 have made our state proud, all 3 have won big national tournaments, all 3 lost but are not losers. They are WINNERS.

To the teams that knocked off the GIANTS, great job and may your good fortunes continue all the way to a State Championship. Take a game at a time, prepare and play your best and hopefully your dreams as a team and players will come true.

To all the teams remaining in the tournament, always try an remember without losers in these games there are no winners. Be gracious in your wins and even more gracious in your losses, that's the true sign of a Champion.

WPS.....have a great day

I left out the team names above..the games were

U-14 Girls Crossfire-Royals

U-16 Boys Crossfire-FW Storm

U-17 boys FC United-NW Nationals

I didn't feel the names were as important as the lessons learned for the winners and losers. I'm only adding them below in case anyone was confused. Best of luck to all the teams in State Cup