I am very torn lately.  I want to teach my kids the right lessons in sports.  And I want them to grow up and be confident in themselves, and, at the same time, exercise good sportsmanship.

Lately though some things have really puzzled me.  What is the right move?  What is the right action for me to take?

Two examples:

1 – Elizabeth tried out for Catonsville lacrosse Lightning team.  She was playing great.  One of the best through the drills.  But, when the split the teams, they said that she was a C team player.  This was not right and it was blatantly obvious.  It was also apparent that this was no accident.  There are some very mean people making the decisions that are very jealous of me.  Elizabeth was very upset, but I didn’t know what to tell her.

2 – Elizabeth and her field hockey team yesterday played in the Harvest Hockey tournament.  We had some of the best players on our team, and we could have beaten anybody.  We got stopped though in the quarterfinals.  Elizabeth Perry’s goal was not counted and we lost by one goal.  I told the kids to forget about the bad call and not complain about it.  But that is hard for kids to swallow.  Hard for me to swallow.

Chip Marshall told me recently – “God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change”

I went to Loyola.  The full quote:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference”

I struggle with the last part.