katelynjane's notebook

Monday night was a hard one for me. I coach ball hockey for 9 - 11 year olds at a Christian youth center. My husband usually comes with me, but for the past few weeks he's been tied up doing Income Tax work for his Grandpa's accounting business. I don't mind going to The Ark (the name of the youth center) by myself, but sometimes it's pretty overwhelming.

This particular Monday night was tough. The team was playing amazing, it was so obvious that they had improved on their skills and they were really giving it their all. For some reason though, they weren't winning. The opposing team has several star players that play defensive and offensive really well so that may have had something to do with it. The boys were getting frustrated, which I can understand, but one player was taking it the worst. Our goalie is always tough on himself even though he's the best goalie in the league. As soon as we start losing he blames himself and wants to give up. It's so sad to see! Especially when I see his dad encouraging this behavior and acting in the exact same way. It's hard for me to watch because there's no reason for it.

I don't understand why people can be so negative. Obviously, I have my bad days, I have days where I could just sit and bawl or I get super frustrated with people or situations. But for the most part, there's always a little voice in the back of my mind saying "It's going to work out, just keep smiling, you're doing good". I don't understand why or how people can just give up. How can some people just slump down and completely give up? "Oh well, it's the second period and we're behind, might as well give up and go home"...why?? There's still one and a half periods to go!

I try my hardest to encourage these boys, to let them know that I see their improvement and that they're doing good...but in some cases it's just not enough. They have too much negative input at home.

I feel so sorry for some of these kids, their parents don't even give them a chance. I'm hoping, as much as I can't see the results right now, our positive attitudes will help them as they grow up. I hope that they can look back one day and see that we meant what we said, that they were amazing kids with huge potential and that if they just try, they will be successful. Because they can, I honestly believe that.