Well, Wando's had our own issues every once in a while and obviously everyone has their breaking point at one time or another, but in general, I was always proud to have played for them and still proud to be able to say I was a Lady Warrior.
Thankfully though, one of the things that my Dad specifically told me over and over growing up, especially when I was a U10 player playing U12 and not matching up quite as well to the older and more experienced players, is that it's not about winning the game or losing the game, but about how you feel when you come off the field. Did you leave it all on the field? Play 150% the entire time and not slack off? Did you learn something? Did you get better at something by learning it?
If I could answer those questions, even if it was a miserable loss and I played hard but wasn't good enough and all I learned was "don't be an idiot, mark your back post," then I could be happy. Some of my proudest moments came from covering the best players on another team, even in a loss, because I knew I kept them from scoring and it was their other teammates who got it done instead.
I've been very lucky to have excellent coaches and a great dad to give me advice, so I can only hope to pass on what I've learned whenever I have the time to start coaching again. I got my "D" License and was able to coach several of the girls on MPSC's U11 Elite team for a year in U9/U10, but unfortunately, medical school has kind of monopolized my time minus the hour and a half I take out to play in Lowcountry Soccer's 6v6 league.
