Rhinebeck Boys Soccer ~ Team of Champions

Rhinebeck Photographer Kathy Cassens captures the thrill!

 
     The Rhinebeck Boys Soccer Team has just won the Class C New York State Championship, and if ever there was a championship team, this one is it. I was unable to go to the games this year, but my son's retelling certainly kept me in the loop. I knew every amazing kick, every heartstopping save. In the post season, I heard about the games and about life on the bench. I watched my son learn the meaning of teamwork ~ teamcare. 

     Whether he played ten minutes or not at all, we won, was my son's grinning refrain. While I worried about the pressures of success piled on success, he shrugged it off - we play hard. We're good. We're going to states. We play hard. We're good. We're going to win.

  Soccer is a team sport, and the Rhinebeck Boys Soccer Team played as a team. Coach Wiesenthal is to be commended not only because of his championship win, but because of the value he instilled in each player, whatever their position. 

  I've also learned something from Coach Wiesenthal and his Championship Team. 

  On Saturday, the last game before the final, Rhinebeck was down with a little over a minute left to play. I could feel the collective heart of Rhinebeck breaking. But the boys kept playing. Playing hard. Playing their best.  80 seconds. 60 seconds. 50. 40...  Somewhere, time stopped ~ the tying goal was made, and Rhinebeck won in overtime. 

  Sunday, Rhinebeck won the championship. But Saturday showed why the Rhinebeck 2014 Boys Soccer Team is a Championship Team. 
     We tell our kids to try their best, to never give up, to believe in themselves. But do we believe it?  Or do we temper our enthusiasm to allay our disappointment? Do we let our worries diminish our hopes?

  Losses come. Invariably losses come and when they do, we need to deal with them. But while the game's still on, while the clock's still running, we've got to keep moving, keep trying, keep believing. That's what makes a championship team. That's what makes a champion. 
     Truly, the boys on the Rhinebeck Soccer Team are champions!