Winning Does Not Always Mean Victory
by Mike Davis, Ph.D.
Head of School
This week, Colorado Academy’s Girls Field Hockey team ended a tremendous season. They were defeated by Palmer Ridge who described their win over CA as “the end of a dynasty.” One player told the Colorado Springs Gazette, "Every season we train to win state but CA has been an obstacle for us… This year, we trained specifically to beat this team." The Palmer Ridge Coach, Paul Lewis said to CHSAA’s reporter, "It's huge. Anybody wants to beat CA. That's just a tough thing to do."
Head of School
This week, Colorado Academy’s Girls Field Hockey team ended a tremendous season. They were defeated by Palmer Ridge who described their win over CA as “the end of a dynasty.” One player told the Colorado Springs Gazette, "Every season we train to win state but CA has been an obstacle for us… This year, we trained specifically to beat this team." The Palmer Ridge Coach, Paul Lewis said to CHSAA’s reporter, "It's huge. Anybody wants to beat CA. That's just a tough thing to do."
Our opponents’ comments are clear. CA’s dominance has been phenomenal. For the seven seniors on CA’s team and the other dedicated players, surely we felt their disappointment in the loss. However, as the father of a junior on the team, I was more proud of the character, poise, and resiliency of our girls than anything else.
While winning in our society has come to signify the Holy Grail, I have seen our girls acquire what the ancient Greeks called arête. It means “excellence,” the kind that becomes woven into the fabric of your experience and defines who you are, and even better, who you have the potential to become.
What I witnessed was our players congratulating the winners, honoring the CA goalie Bridget Sutter, and coming together as a team to process the season in a post-game huddle. Sure, there were some tears, but there was also some laughter. Driving home with my daughter after the game, she celebrated both the season and all that they derived from it as we spoke together. Her takeaways were great memories, hard work, strong friendships, and lessons about excellence.
I know that the level of play, sportsmanship, and skills will take our girls back to postseason play in the years to come. (I know I am biased, but there are still lots of amazing female athletes ready to move forward with our wonderful coach Veronica Scott.) What I also know is that they will learn as much from defeat as they will from CA’s unprecedented run and consecutive state championships. That consolation for a student-athlete may feel small right now, but it will loom large in their lives as they come to know that “winning" may not always be victory, but instead, “winning" is also the lessons learned and relationships formed on the journey.
Congratulations, girls!
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