Friday last I reluctantly volunteered to attend my daughter's grade 6 volleyball tournament at a neighbourhood school.
I should have known. I loved every minute of it.
It brought me back to my days as a volleyball player in high school. The one sport I was ever any good at.
I brought the best from my coach to the court side. Encouraging, forget that bad play, focus on the next one, be ready, get into position. Praise the opponents for well executed plays.
My daughter was embarrassed at first because I was so vocal, especially to the "strangers" on the other team, but when my enthusiasm became contagious and was praised by her peers, she came around, and started being more vocal herself.
Over lunch I told them that the best game they had play during the morning session was the one they had lost. This piece of news shocked them.
I explained that sometimes it's better to lose to a stronger team than beat a weaker one, as long as you give them a run for their money, and play your best, which was what they had done. I told them they should thank the other team for pushing them to play their best and congratulate them for a hard won victory.
I think they got the message. Or at least the gist of it.
They tied for first among the 4 schools in attendance. They were pretty pumped about that.
Facebook was abuzz with celebration and a couple of posts mentioned me.
"I hope he comes back"
"It's because of him we won"
"He really help by saying - it's okay" [when they missed], to which one of the boys replied "You're lucky, madame just yelled at us". ;)
So now I have to go back.
I can't fathom how I was ever reluctant to go in the first place.
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