I am probably one of three most athletic kids in my class and I play a lot of sports. On most of the teams I play on in P.E or outside of school I am usually the leader of the team. If I make a mistake it’s different than when someone else makes a mistake. If we lose people will usually point their finger at me. One time, I remember getting out in dodgeball and kids on my team we’re like, “Aw man! We’re gonna lose because Elliot got out!” The other team was like, “Yay! We got him out!” Trust me. I know what I’m talking about when it comes to winning and losing. I’m about to tell you how, as a multi-sport athlete, I’ve grown from my wins and losses.

When I accomplish something I am happy. When I lose something I am sad. If I score in a winning game, I am even more happy because I know that I played a big part in that victory. In 2016 I played with the San Francisco Sabercats and we won the Norcal Hockey Championship. Even though I didn’t score a goal in the game, and even though we won by a lot, it still felt amazing to have the feeling of winning. It’s the best feeling ever. So what if I didn’t score? Without me the game would have gone differently.

When Iose I am sad. I feel mad that I lost but if the opposing team hasn’t won very much then at least someone is happy. It’s not like no one is happy and everyone is sad. You may think that you should be sad when you lose but sometimes if you win a lot you might get used to winning and then you don’t feel really bad when you lose… or the opposite. Another time you might not feel bad is when you lose but your team tried their hardest. To me if you have never lost a game in sports you would not know how to lose so when you eventually lose — you’re going to lose sometime in your life — you would be really mad. You might even hurt someone because you’re so mad.

Achieving something is like failing if you act like a sore winner. I’ve had a few experiences with sore winners and it’s not fun. When someone is a sore winner you feel horrible. You feel even more horrible when you were on the court/rink/field whatever other things there are that you can play on when it happened. Even when you’re not playing anymore you still feel bad, wheth on the bench or after the game. An example of being a sore winner is when a team is already winning by a lot and they they over-celebrate when they score. Even in the professional leagues people will celebrate a little too much, in my opinion. Also, I think that in the level of sports that I play you should only really celebrate if you get the winning goal with like two seconds left or you win the championships, something like that. Me personally, I try to never celebrate too much because I don’t want the other team to feel bad. You should also try not to be a sore loser because that is basicly the same thing as a sore winner but the other team won’t feel sad because they won.

You should try to follow the rules or you will get a penalty. If you get a penalty the other team will have a big advantage in most sports. In basketball if you get a penalty either the other team gets the ball or the other team gets to shoot free throws. In hockey if you get a penalty you will have to sit in the penalty box. In soccer you could get sent out of the game if you get a red card or two yellow cards. When I get a penalty in hockey I feel really sad because my team could lose the game because of that penalty if it was tied or something like that and the other team scores I would blame myself. Whenever I get out of the penalty box I always try to score a goal or do a really good defensive play because then I can make up for my mistake.

You will win and lose. Deal with it. Don’t let that get in the way of your dreams. Dream big and live life. Grownups and kids all around the world have gone through winning and losing. It’s just the cycle of life. Don’t feel bad, feel good, about everything and anything that happens. With a perspective, I’m Elliot.