February 2020 - 4

EDITORIAL between the lines
embrace the lessons
IN LOSING
By Kevin Hoffman, Editorial Director
Failure presents opportunity. Any time a
team returns to the locker room following a
loss, coaches are bestowed a unique chance
to teach. But far too few take advantage of it.
Instead, most teams deal with
disappointment by casting it into the
shadows. Athletes are told to forget about
it and move on without giving it a second
thought, but what they really should do is take time to reflect
on their emotions. That's how they accept, adapt, adjust and
ultimately learn from the experience.
There are two critical points that all young athletes must
keep in mind. The first: everybody fails. Hall of fame athletes,
Fortune 500 CEOs, world leaders, Hollywood movie stars and
Grammy Award-winning musicians have all felt the sting of
failure. In fact, many of them would probably say it's because
of those setbacks that they eventually reached the top.
When talking about failure, I'm reminded of NFL
quarterback Nick Foles' comments after leading the
Philadelphia Eagles to victory in Super Bowl LII. Foles was
named to his first Pro Bowl in 2014 after starting eight games
for the Eagles. A year later he was traded, benched and then
later released by the Rams. He pondered retirement before
deciding to sign with the Chiefs, and one year later he was
reunited with Philadelphia, helping the franchise to its first
world championship while winning Super Bowl MVP honors.
In that moment, claiming victory at the highest level of the
nation's most popular sport, Foles chose to talk about failure
and what it meant to him.
" Failure is a part of life, " Foles said. " Without failure, who
would you be? I wouldn't be up here if I hadn't fallen thousands
of times and made mistakes. We're all human, and we all have
weaknesses.
" I might be in the NFL and we may have just won the Super
Bowl, but we still have daily struggles. I have daily struggles.
... When you look at a struggle in your life, just know that's an
opportunity for you to grow your character. If something is
going on in your life and you're struggling, embrace it, because
you're growing. "
Foles' comments raise a second critical point:
Disappointment exists everywhere. In the grand scheme
of life, we might consider sports inconsequential, but the
lessons we learn in winning and losing have a ripple effect.
How a young athlete reacts after getting cut by the team
might influence how they respond after getting rejected by a
university or employer.
Whether you're a coach, administrator or parent, you're all
educators in the eyes of children. Remember to take advantage of
every teachable moment, no matter how unpleasant it may be.
4 FEBRUARY 2020
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD:
TOM BASS, Former NFL Assistant, Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
& San Diego Chargers * DR. DAVID HOCH, Retired Athletic Director, Baltimore
County, MD * ABE WEHMILLER, Director of Athletics, Charlotte Country Day
School, Charlotte, NC * ALAN STEIN, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach,
Nike Elite DeMatha Catholic High School, MD * PETE KITTEL, Principal, Brillion
High School, WI * DARREN FENSTER, Minor League Manager, Boston Red Sox
& Founder/CEO, Coaching Your Kids, LLC, Neptune, NJ * JOSH HILS, Soccer
Coach, Coe-Brown Northwood Academy, NH * DR. BRANDEN LIPPY, Athletic
Director, Lampeter-Strasburg High School, Lancaster, PA
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February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2020
