“We lost because of me, I’m sorry.”
On the 22nd, the first game of the quarter-finals of the Cheongnyonggi High School Baseball Championship at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul ended in a 4-3 upset for Gyeonggi Sangwon Go. Unlike Gyeonggi Sanggo, whose morale was high after reaching the semi-finals on the national main stage, the Daegu Sangwon High School team could only hang their heads in shame after the upset loss. Park Do-gun, a third-year student who started at third base and centre fielder, was unable to leave the field for a while. He was in full tears, blaming himself for the loss, and coach Hwang Seok-ho kept trying to calm him down.
“No, no. It’s not your fault. Calm down, let’s play again!”
While Coach Hwang somehow managed to calm Park down, Coach Kim Seung-kwan called the team together. He tersely admitted defeat and promised to look forward to the next time. “I’ll see you next week at the presidential boat,” he told the paper as he got into his car for Daegu.
The space of student baseball is quite dynamic and emotional. There is a lot of laughter and crying, as well as cheering for victory. For the players, the baseball field is a classroom. It’s the same way that a student’s efforts are reflected in their exam results.안전놀이터
And then there are the parents, who applaud their sons to the fullest. It’s hard to watch your son shed tears in the pain of defeat, but it’s also your job to teach him that there is a better tomorrow, and that’s why you cheer without words.
It’s okay to cry. Youth has the right to be frustrated. It is also the privilege of high school students to use this pain as a springboard to promise a better tomorrow. We hope that these young athletes, who are not yet 20 years old, can use the spirit of defeat as medicine to become more mature.
I dedicate this article to the youth who were eliminated from the Cheongryonggi Championships and are preparing for the next competition.