to my team:

{via buren foster photography}

my dear girls -- i'm sitting here after our last game, still in my coaching clothes, and thinking back over the season. i'm thinking back over how far we've come from those conditioning sessions in january to the end of a game we all wish would've ended differently.

and i'm thankful it - for all of it. i'm thankful for each one of you. i'm thankful to still be a part of this game, and for the chance i've had to get to know each of you. coaching you reminds me why i love this game so much. 

you played good soccer tonight. sometimes that initially makes the loss harder, but at the end of the day i think it's better to walk off the field knowing that you left all of yourself on it. knowing that you did everything in your power to affect the outcome.

unfortunately that's how life works sometimes. sometimes you get unlucky. sometimes you work and work and work and give it all you have, and you still come up short. but that doesn't mean the work was in vain. it does mean that you're strong enough to start again. it means you understand the importance of perseverance - of picking yourselves up and trying anew. over and over and over again. 

you should be proud of yourselves, ladies. you should be proud of your season. yes, it ended a couple weeks earlier than we would have liked. it ended a few games shy of a state trophy, but that doesn't mean it wasn't great. that doesn't take away from all of the things we accomplished. it doesn't make the rest of it less because the end wasn't more. 

i know all of us coaches are proud of you. i'm proud of the way you rose to the occasion against a good team tonight. i'm proud of how you kept fighting the whole way through a close, tough game. and i hope that you all walked off of that field with your heads held high knowing that this season is something to be proud of. knowing that you should be proud of how you played tonight. proud of how you played this season. and knowing that we are proud of you too.

much love to you.