True champions and winners don't make excuses. They don't talk about being sick, bad refs, poor coaching decisions.
Teach your kid to deal with realities of life and to overcome certain bad situations-don't keep showing a tape of where "_We" got ripped off. Don't keep telling your kid how a coach screwed up; don't make excuses for defeat-use them as positive learning experiences-
too many Dad's and Mom's after states have concentrated on the wrong thing-praise your kid; teach him to deal with defeat-don't place blame

AMEN! I saw a few parents with obvious names on here claiming so and so got robbed. Great post!

I understand what you are saying and honestly you are right in everything you say, but reality is it is very painful to end your wrestling career on a close match. To this day which is alot of years later I feel the pain everytime I watch wrestling. In a match I felt I won but the official decided otherwise. It is true the wrestlers need to wrestle and not let the official take it away from him but when you wrestle the best match you can and something happens that isn't right in your eyes it is every hard to let go.

So today I coach and preach the same things you are saying. I try my best to be positive about everyone and to let everyone have the benefit.

All I can say for those dealing with it is to understand everything happens for a reason and sometimes it is not possible to understand. Live the best life you can and let God lead your way.

very often the best lessons we can learn are how to deal with things when they DON'T go our way.

I, too, observed more than one parent struggling to deal with their child's loss, fair, unfair or just the way the cards were dealt, on Saturday night. Meanwhile, I have seen their kids, shake it off, root for their teammate, tussle on the mat in playful sparring, laugh and enjoy their experience. Sure, in their private moments, I bet they mourn the "what could have been", but I think many parents could take a lesson from what I observed in their children. The ability to find joy in the moment, for all moments are gifts if we treat them that way.

My favorite C.S. Lewis quote " God wispers to us in our pleasures, but he shouts to us through our pain".