My soccer team won our division championship tonight with a 2-1 win against a very, very tough team.

I'm so proud of these kids.

We were not at all the most talented team, but as the season progressed they embraced the lessons I was teaching:

1. Focus on the fundamentals.
2. Play within yourself.
3. Keep everything to the outside until you can strike.
4. Have fun and be a good sport.
5. Being a good sport doesn't mean allowing them to push you around - stand your ground, play with pride and give it your best effort, always.
6. Team first. No one can do it all on their own. Trust your team mates, always.

They did just that, every game down the stretch of the season and finished their last 8 games, including the playoffs 6-0-2, after starting 5-5 with some pretty discouraging losses.

This was the end of an exciting season for them. I'm happy we were able to make this happen.

In two weeks we'll have our season wrap-up and pizza party. After that, most of these kids I will probably never coach again. That's just the way it goes.

But I hope they take the excitement of this season, and the lessons they embraced, and never, ever stop playing, growing and learning.