This Little League coach gives the perfect pep talk after his team's loss
If you've ever played an organized sport, you've been hit hard by defeat. It stings whether you're at the neighborhood field or at the Little League World Series, but sometimes, all it takes is the right coach to put things into perspective and remind you why you ever picked up a bat.
On Monday, the Cumberland American Little League team from Rhode Island was defeated by Chicago's Jackie Robinson West, with a final score of 8-7. After this heartbreaking loss, several members of the team began to cry, and that's when Coach David Belisle sprang into action and gave a pep talk that will likely stay with the players forever. "There's no disappointment in your effort — in the whole tournament, the whole season," he said. "It's been an incredible journey."
Belisle said that the team went out on the highest note possible, and everyone was proud of them, from their parents to all of New England. "They like fighters," he said. "They like sportsmen. They like guys who don't quit. They like guys who play the game the right way. If everyone would play baseball like the Cumberland Americans, this would be the greatest game."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Belisle also reminded the team that win or lose, they still had each other. "It's OK to cry, because we're not going to play baseball together anymore," he said. "But we're going to be friends forever. Friends forever." Listen to Belisle's entire talk below, and good luck not getting teary-eyed. --Catherine Garcia
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
‘The economics of WhatsApp have been mysterious for years’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Will Democrats impeach Kristi Noem?Today’s Big Question Centrists, lefty activists also debate abolishing ICE
-
Is a social media ban for teens the answer?Talking Point Australia is leading the charge in banning social media for people under 16 — but there is lingering doubt as to the efficacy of such laws
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
