13/08/2021
“Don’t let this photo deceive you! I learned a lot from this man... I’ve been to thousands of tournaments, I’ve seen millions of takedowns, thousands of last seconds wins but on one hand I can count how many times I’ve seen a parent do this. In the state championship finals Brendon Olsen (Silver city)lost a nail-biter match in SV-Ot 6-4. As his opponent jumped in to his coaches arms, Brendon slowly walked his 2nd place medal across the arena in defeat. His body language told the story, dripping sweat, shoulders down, and head hanging low he walked up to his father. What happen next was the part that stole the show for me. His father gently reached up and lifted his sons chin up holding his head high (sending a powerful message) as they exchanged words Brendon’s head slowly lowered back to defeat. His father reached back up and raised his sons chin one more time. The moments after a match are all to often used to critique what went wrong and why a kid lost the match. Don’t forget to remind your young ones to keep their heads up, keep trying their best and you’re proud they gave it everything they had. You’ll help build better character, you’ll see change, you’ll get better results. Thank you Bart for that lesson. I see a recipe for success. 🙏🏼👏🏼”
- Rob Sepulveda
