There was a tradition at a Hall of Residence of a historic university overseas that at dinners, if a student wished to have seconds of any one of the three courses, he would hold his plate high in the air and assistance would be forthcoming. The challenge also was to have seconds of all three courses, thus attaining the coveted and celebrated honour of ‘The Big Six’! Seconds was something to be sought after determinedly! In sport, however, it might not appear to be so!
A fascinating situation arose not long ago at the US Masters golf championship, one of golf’s four Majors. Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka finished tied second after the four rounds, four shots behind the winner Jon Rahm. It might be noted first of all that both Mickelson and Koepka have previously won six and four (respectively) of golf’s Major tournaments; they both know what it is like to win and to come second. Here in this tournament, they both finished second but had very different responses to it.
Mickelson was reported as saying, “Either way, no matter the outcome, I had so much fun today”. Koepka, who finished a little later, was heard to say, “Second is not very fun”. Same position, totally different reaction! Second was so much fun; second was no fun! How come? How can the same position produce such contrasting responses?
The first clue may perhaps have been in the reference to the outcome. Mickelson had finished second having shot a seven under par 65 in the final round to shoot up the leaderboard, while Koepka, who had led the tournament going into the final round, shot a three over par 75. Mickelson had enjoyed a great round of golf while Koepka had not. That surely underlines that no matter the outcome of a sporting match we can still enjoy it because of the way we play. That understanding should never be lost! The result should not define the enjoyment. Mickelson enjoyed his fill of seconds and so can we!
The second clue as to why Mickelson could enjoy his seconds can be found in another comment that he made following his round. “I’m grateful to be a part of this tournament and to be here competing and then to play well, it means a lot.” Competing in the Masters is not something that is possible for any and everyone. Only a select group of people can do so. As he had also previously opted to play
on a rival Tour, he realised again the enormous privilege it was to play in one of golf’s four Majors. He did not take it for granted but showed gratitude for being able to do so. Simply to be able to play in the tournament was fun; to come second was just even more fun. He saw not simply the result in perspective but also the event in perspective. That contributed and enlarged his enjoyment.
Thirdly, Mickelson was further quoted as saying, “To come out today and play the way I did and hit the shots when I needed, it’s so much fun”. Clearly Koepka did not hit the shots he needed to hit; he found it tough when he was hitting bad shots and others were not. Yet he still had seconds!
Interestingly, even Koepka saw some value in his portion of seconds. In saying “second’s not very fun” he did also add immediately, “that’s motivation”. Furthermore, after his first round, he commented on how good it felt to be playing there in the US Masters having gone through several years of serious injuries. He too appreciated the opportunity to play in such an event and was motivated for more.
The diners in that Hall of Residence clearly saw eating all that food was “so much fun”; they wanted more of what they had just received. Seconds was so much fun. In our school sporting fixtures, we should be ensuring that our children are having so much fun that no matter the outcome they still want more. The result should not determine their enjoyment. Second can be fun! We must never deny them such an understanding. We need also to underline for them that it is a privilege to be playing sport in the first place, for a team secondly. They must not take for granted that they are healthy, have talent and can play sport; that they have facilities to do so; that they have coaches who can assist them; that they have parents and teachers who support them. More of that is certainly desirable. “No matter the outcome, I had so much fun today.” Those should be the words of every player who comes off the field. They should want more; they should love seconds!
