Leavenworth Thunder post-tournament letter to parents

am very pleased with the girls effort this weekend. we had one bad half in the first game where we couldnt hold on to our lead.  we used that experience to talk about the difference between confidence and mental toughness. Mental toughness, we decided is having the will and courage to get back up after you get knocked down. I was very pleased to see them come back strong from that experience in the next 2 games

our second game was against a good, physical  Div III team and the girls responded to the physical play very well, and played the whole game, fighting through to tie in the last minute.  That is resiliency and mental toughness.

our 3d game was against a very good Div 1 team from Topeka. The girls played hard the whole game, created chances on offense and competed for the ball on defense.

we had a good discussion after the games about the following important ideas:

1. there are games you win and games you lose

2. there are games where you play well and games where you dont play well

these are not identical

there are games you win, where you dont play well

there are games you lose where you play well

our focus is on playing well and as hard as we can, and learning from the results and from our self-assessment on how we played. I like that our girls are learning these lessons in the play of the game while improving their skills

be proud of their efforts and focus, and the positive support they give to the team and their teammates.