As an athlete, it is important to know that it is okay to sometimes lose a game or competition. We are all human and make mistakes, but the most important thing is to learn from our mistakes.

It might feel bad at first when you lose, but as you keep practicing and improve, you can and will learn from your mistakes. For the next game, the skills you have been practicing will hopefully improve and the results will be different.

For example, imagine you are the spiker in a volleyball game.

• At your first game, you spike the ball into the net 10 times.
• Your team then loses, and you might feel upset.
• After that game, you go back to practice and work on more drills for your spikes.
• This repetitive practice will eventually lead your spike to improve, and it will become muscle memory.

For the next game your volleyball team attends you may only miss 4 spikes instead of 10. This is progress! Then, your team may have an opportunity to win the game. Despite how bad you might feel at the beginning, you should remember that there is always room for improvement.

Make sure that you keep on trying your best and you will eventually improve. This might take longer for some people to gain a greater understanding of this concept, but ultimately the result will make you happy.

Remember to not give up because this terrible feeling of losing a game will not last for what may seem like forever. It will always get better, and you don’t want to make a decision you will ultimately regret. Through all of these winning and losing games, the important aspect to remember is to always have fun!