An Ode to 2012 Lafayette High Mens Soccer Team

Be bold as the lion, but know it’s the dove that makes you bulletproof…..

In ancient Greece, lions were believed to have drawn the chariots of Gods. In Egypt, the mighty lion represented the sun's heat, with powers to protect the good and eradicate the bad. Buddha sits upon the lion as a throne of consistency, strength, and wisdom. Those born under the sun sign Leo are fiercely independent, confident, and in control.

It's easy to see why the mighty lion has been, throughout history, associated with power. When you observe a lion in nature, you detect an easy strength, a natural dignity. The lion is born powerful, and power comes naturally to it. There is no false bravado. The lion does not need it. It is bold, exuding strength, courage, power, authority, and ferocity.

But, gentlemen of the Lafayette High Men's Soccer Team, the attributes of the mighty lion are not the only things that earned you respect or won games for you, this or previous seasons. They weren't the only reasons you were ranked as high as 28th in the ESPN Fab 50 national rankings. They weren't the only reasons parents, coaches, and players of other teams rooted for you even though their seasons had ended. Just ask Ross Barron and his Pineville team. While opposing teams and coaches saw ferocity, power, strength, and courage, your coaches, families, friends, and fans knew that the attributes of an animal quite different from the lion made this team nearly bulletproof. 

Gentlemen, whether you know it or not, the dove has as much to do with this team's success as the mighty lion. Now, I'm not saying that you should change the team's name to the 'Mighty Doves.' It just doesn't work. But the attributes associated with the dove have been your secret weapon since we began watching you play years ago. These include compassion, devotion, sacrifice, promise, hopefulness, and love. You see, without these attributes, the lion's power, strength, and ferocity don't mean nearly as much.

Over the last several years, we've watched proudly as this team of incredible young men combined the lion and the dove. We saw power mixed with compassion, strength with promise, authority with sacrifice, the ferocity with hopefulness, courage with love.   

Seniors of the Lafayette High Men's Soccer team, it's time for you to move on. The mighty lion you proudly represent should be a continual reminder of your strength and courage. Each of you was born robust and divine. But your compassion, sacrifice, devotion, promise, hopefulness, and love, those things you continue to do for others, will make you invincible. It's time to proudly display your power and strength by leading others with the heart you have shown us all.

Remember, you are as bold as a lion, but the dove makes you bulletproof. You are all new now.

Press play below to listen to Bold As A Lion by Trevor Davis.

This song was written for you!

A letter to the LHS Mens Soccer Team from Bob Nicols,

parent, fan, photographer and videographer 😉

I am so sorry I can’t be here tonight, but I wanted to give you all something for the hours of joy you have given me over the last few years.

Life is very short, gentlemen, and in no time the current events of your life will be distant, faded memories. What sticks with you are undeniable truths that become more obvious and evident as time passes. In case you ever need a reminder, I ask that you keep this note handy. Miss Sherry will have copies for all of you. I’m sure I have missed many things, but this is a start….

God is LOVE, truth, goodness, kindness, forgiveness, grace. Nothing more, nothing less. God is in your heart, your spirit, is part of you. So if you are lead by God, you will be guided to do the right thing. I’m not saying you can’t or won’t make mistakes. We all do. But let love, truth, goodness, kindness, forgiveness, and grace be your guide, your compass, and will live the best life possible.

The Golden Rule kicks butt (treat others as you would want to be treated). All part of the God thing, but right is right. It will make your life happier and more fulfilling, your relationships deeper and longer lasting.

Hell is created and lived here and now. It’s not a place you go when you die. Do bad things, mistreat others, lie and hate, and you live a miserable life. You don’t have to wait ‘til death to experience hell.

EVERY DAY IS NEW! That also kicks butt. You have the opportunity to be right, do right, correct mistakes, love, forgive, every morning you wake up, every breath you take. What happened yesterday doesn’t have to define you. You can be a brand new person tomorrow. What a great gift!

Always treat your parents with love and respect. They have sacrificed much for you and love you unconditionally. No matter what transpires between you, you have to rise above and realize everything they have done and will do for you is founded in love and care.

Never drive after drinking (I can hear you say “You’re killing me, man”). Quite the contrary. If my words echo in your head when you are about to get behind the wheel of a car after popping back a few, I have saved a precious life, so this won’t be the last time you hear it.

Work just a little harder (if not, a lot harder) than those around you. When you work, the job you do is a reflection of who you are, your character. Not that work should define you, but your output is an indicator of who you are. Second, the amount of money you make is directly proportional to the amount of impact you have on other people’s lives. The more people and greater the depth and breadth of impact, the greater the return, both spiritually and financially.

That leads me to Karma. It’s real, man. What goes around comes around. It rarely fails (back to the God thing again). It’s amazing how when you do right, better things happen. Eerie, actually.

Stay young. Just because you age in years doesn’t mean your spirit has to age with it. Your spirit stays as young as you make it. Yes, you get wiser. But that just makes it easier to stay out of trouble while you exercise your youthful spirit. Life is a grand adventure, but you have to stay young enough to be adventurous.

Take care of your body. It carries your spirit, so it is somewhat of a temple. When you are 18, I know you feel immortal. You don’t think about what you eat or drink, but unfortunately, it’s storing up to bite you in the middle-aged butt you will eventually have.

Take care of your stuff. If you like stuff, you’ll likely get a lot of stuff. If you become attached to your stuff, when you don’t take care of it and it breaks, you’ll want to replace it with more stuff. It gets expensive. It takes less time and effort to take care of the stuff you have than working to buy more stuff to replace the stuff you didn’t take care of (that includes your teeth…..).

Credit cards are the work of the devil. Ok, not really, but they can give you the false sense of getting stuff for free. You really don’t have the money, but the card still works, so what the hell. Unfortunately, the postman always eventually delivers the bill with a huge-ass interest charge. That simply means you end up paying a boatload more for what you probably couldn’t afford to begin with.

Follow YOUR dreams, not your mom’s, dad’s, friends or anyone else’s. Don’t be ashamed or feel guilty for whatever you choose to do. We will be happy as long as you are. Same with peer pressure. As you have probably experienced, there are a lot of idiots who will do anything and expect you to do the same. If you do as they do, that makes you and idiot, too, and you’re not. So don’t.

Open doors for strangers, say please and thank you, bless everyone when they sneeze, help people whenever you see the opportunity, make it your duty to make everyone smile that you come in contact with, let your spirit shine.

Learn as much as you can, however you can. Knowledge IS power. The more you know that others don’t, the more they pay you to get it. What a trip….

Learn to cook. It’s a great escape and once again, chicks dig it.

Do everything with passion. If you can’t find the passion, don’t do it. You probably won’t like it anyway.

Music, sweet music. It IS food for the spirit. Keep your ears and mind open. Anything done well is worth giving a try. And don’t give a damn if your friends don’t like it. It’s YOUR music, your ears, your soul.

Remember your parents are always there. Their love is totally unconditional. You can always call on them, always count on them. Their ears, heart and door will forever be open. Long after they are physically gone and, as a matter of fact, as long as you’re alive, they will live in your heart. Their spirit is forever imbedded in yours. Corny stuff, but absolutely true.

Thank you for a wonderful year. I look forward to watching you win state!!!

Bob Nicols