A Note From the Director: Where Every Child is a Winner!

Where Every Child is a Winner!

Upward is a very unique experience. Our motto is, “Where every child is a winner!” What does this mean? Does it mean they will win every game? I wish we could guarantee that, but we can’t. Unfortunately, one team will win and one team will lose (or they will tie which is always fun to watch!).

When we say “where every child is a winner,” we promote winning as how they played the game, not whether or not they lost. We encourage kids not to live and breathe by what the scoreboard says, but - if they had fun, if they cheered for their team-mates, and if they did their absolute best! Thus, we implement the star system, so they are encouraged no matter how the game ends on the scoreboard. We love to watch as their skills improve from the beginning to the end of the season. We cannot always guard children from winning or losing a game, but we can promote what’s most important and that’s what we aim to do.

We do try and create even teams by conducting evaluations, but children always play differently in a “game-scenario”. If they are new to Football, it may take a few weeks to understand how the game is played.

I’ve always been inspired by this quote, “It’s what you get from games you lose that is extremely important.” Therefore, we can’t always win every single game, but we can encourage children to do their very best, have fun, cheer for the team-mates and learn to be more like Christ, both on and off the fields. Let’s encourage each and every player out on these fields and show them the “winner” inside of them ...

Looking UPWARD,
Lizzy M. Christian