Life's Tough Lessons

Sometimes kids have to learn the lessons of life the hard way. You hate to see it happen. It's particularly hard when you know what's going to happen but you just have to let it happen. It's the only way for them to learn a lesson.

As was the case with Shane and his first tennis tournament this week. He is playing in a summer clinic and has been hitting with the older kids so far. His coach asked me whether we should put Shane in the intermediate or advanced section of tournament. I told him to let Shane decide so Art gave him the choice of playing in the tournament with either the intermediate kids or with the advanced kids.

Art and I both knew what he should do. He should have played with the intermediate kid. The advanced kids were all at least three to five years older than him. We wanted him to build his confidence by playing with kids that he had a chance against.

But he decided to play in the advanced section.

And it was a train wreck that we knew was going to happen. But even though Art and I both tried to steer Shane to the intermediate group, he made the decision to play advanced and we had to let him go down that road.

Shane lost both matches and was understandably upset. But...I told him to look at it like a learning experience and just to move forward and not make the same mistakes next time. I'm betting that he won't be caught in the no-man land again.

But even though he lost, I was proud how he kept playing and didn't lose his cool. And we've got that first match under his belt. Now let's just hope that he is able to channel his disappointment in a constructive way and it doesn't destroy his confidence.

I think that he'll be fine. He said that he would play in a tournament again.

But said that he would play in the intermediate section this time. :)

So maybe he did learn his lesson. I sure hated to have him learn it but it had to be done.