I have coached my three kids in many sports including baseball, basketball, tennis, golf and swimming, but when they played in youth soccer leagues, I watched.

I’d stand on the sideline feeling uncomfortable, wanting to give the coach suggestions, but I always held my tongue. If I’d learned one thing coaching youth sports, it was that a parent’s input was never helpful.

When my son was eleven-years-old, his team took the field against the previous year’s district champions. The other team’s players were fast, skilled and well-coached. When they took practice shots on goal, the ball zoomed off their feet and slammed into the netting.

By half-time we were down, 7-0. We hadn’t gotten a single shot on their goal. During half-time, our players had their heads down.

“No doubt the other team is better,” our coach said, “but that doesn’t give us the right to quit. I want every player to work hard this second half.”

One player shouted, “Why? There’s no way we can beat them.”

“I’ll tell you why,” our coach said. “If you hold that team to three or fewer goals this half, I’ll buy every one of you an ice cream cone.”

The players jumped to their feet, huddled like football players, arms interlocked, and chanted, “We can do this. We can do this.”

We’d always had a problem with our players bunching around the ball, but during the second half, our players moved well without the ball. With five minutes to go, the score was 9-0. The other team was working hard to get another goal. Their bench kept chanting, “Ten, Ten.”

Our guys cleared every ball near the goal and when the final horn sounded, our team jumped and hollered and slapped high-fives. Anyone watching would’ve thought we’d won. The looks of disbelief on the winning team’s faces were priceless. I could imagine them thinking, if this is how they celebrate a 9-0 loss, what do they do when they win?

It was an odd moment, to lose 9-0 and leave the field feeling like a winner, but thanks to coaching ingenuity, that’s what happened.