Boys Soccer: The journey to a State Championship
There were 3 boys returning from last year’s talented team. Three experienced players from a team that was ranked 2nd in the State for most of the year in 2006. Three out of 22!
How would this team come together? How would God use this sport that they love to build them into the men He wants them to be? Besides wins and losses, with so many “new” players, would they hold high the standard of “Iron Sharpening Iron” that those who came before them established?
Most of us know the blessing that is the end of this story: a second State Championship…but that is only the final result. When we don’t “win it all”, we spend lots of time talking about the journey, the process, what we’ve learned, and how we wouldn’t trade it for any championship…how It is always more than the end or the final result. It is the process. It is the journey. That is the story!
Besides setting school records for allowing only 6 goals against them the whole season and 0 during the state tournament, this team will be remembered for who they became and not what they won. The exhilaration and happiness that was felt all around Crew Stadium as the clock ran down to zero is a great memory, but it is also temporary. What will last are the lessons learned by these boys as they gave themselves for each other. Sound bites and “bumper-sticker” phrases were turned into heart-changing words that could be seen in their actions. When this group talks about IRON SHARPENING IRON, it is defined by leaving it (person, place, relationship, program, etc.) better than it was before you got there. They found a way to leave it better by redefining the word “together” and showing what it means to play for the guy next to you. This modeling of servant leadership will last much longer than the warm feeling that afternoon in Columbus…even that wonderful moment of singing Amazing Grace with the crowd!
Growing daily by striving to be a little bit better each day, the 2007 boys of CVCA soccer were able to accomplish great things. As all good things come from above, we praise God for using this journey to touch the lives of the team and those who watched them. Thank you, Lord!
Coach, Jason Spodnik
