3 career lessons I have learnt from playing football

Growing up as a young lad in Southern Nigeria, playing football was everything. My friends and I played the game almost on a daily basis — on our neighborhood street pathways, the school playgrounds, the local church car parks and on any and every space big enough to accommodate us.

Today, as I began to again reflect on my childhood, it became clearer to me that the game of football has been a foundational part of how I learnt how to make friends, build connections, as well as enjoy the feeling of winning, and accepting the pain of defeat.

And quite frankly, every win, loss, and connections I have made on the football pitch has plays a considerable role in shaping me into the person I am — off the pitch. So I thought about sharing my top 3 learnings from this sport I love so much.

1. Playing football introduced me to teamwork.

Football is a team´s sport. Depending on the size of the football pitch, playing the game usually requires 11 players in a team with each player performing different roles — a goalkeeper to guard the goalpost, defenders to man the team´s backline and protect the goalkeeper, midfielders at the centre of the park whose responsibility is to ensure the distribution of the ball, and the attacking players leading the team´s attack. To have a chance at victory, all the players in the team have to work together and support each other throughout the duration of the game.

2. A diverse team is a better team.

There is no such thing as a perfect football team. However, my experience has thought me that having a diverse team can be an advantage.

Diversity in football can come in different forms — diversity of talent, positions on the pitch, skill sets/abilities on and off the ball e.t.c. And getting the right individuals in the right areas at the right time of the game will also be key to the team´s success.

I must also admit that this is not an option that is available to all sides in a football game. For example, there were days where my team had only midfielders and strikers with exceptional abilities on the ball, and we didn’t have the requisite defenders and goalkeeper to defend the goalpost. When we lost the ball and the opponent put us under pressure, we had to work harder and struggle to support each other as best as possible to overcome our weaknesses.

3. You win some, you lose some.

In football, defeat is as certain as victory. It doesn’t matter how good you are individually, or how much effort you put into a game, there is a chance that you will experience defeat at some stage in your journey.

You will face stronger opponents, concede goals, lose games and take defeats in tournaments. And the experience of defeat will be just as important and impactful to you and your team as the experience of winning.

For me personally, experiencing defeats has helped me greatly to build my drive and continue even after a disappointing outing. And the joy of sharing the success of scoring an important goal, overcoming a strong opponent and winning a tournament with my teammate is one of the most beautiful experience to share and behold.

I can go all day writing about my love and passion for the game of football, sharing some of the life-changing experiences I have picked up over the years from being on the pitch. For me, football is not just another hobby, it is my passion. And when you love what you do, you are bound to enjoy and learn from every experience — the wins and the defeats, and keep looking forward to every new opportunity to play again. What about you?