TEGHA WELHAGHA STRATEGY

I grew up playing soccer with friends in our neighborhood when we were in our early teens. We had a neighborhood team and we thought we could conquer the world. Considering all our players we were pretty convinced we represented the world of pro players at that time; Zeko, Revellino, Franz Beckebower, Michael Platteni, …, etc. It was the late early 80’s and this was a lineup of great soccer players.

One afternoon while playing in our neighborhood a few kids came over from another neighborhood, they came to challenge us to a match. This happened often, and with extreme enthusiasm mixed with arrogance we accepted the challenge. We all decided to play on a neutral ground. We chose the beach away from either neighborhood and set the time and date to be a Friday afternoon.

Friday afternoon came and both teams met at the location. Each team had their own uniforms. Our uniforms were blue and white and theirs were green and white. Each team had others who came along to cheer for their team.

Before the kick off, each team took one side of the field to warm up and kick the ball around. When I first stepped on the field I had an uneasy feeling, my stomach felt like knots. My position was right winged forward. As I stood there I started observing the other team to see how we compared to their players. I watched their defense and I thought to myself, scoring should not be a problem, I got this, “teenage arrogance.”

The referee whistled to each Captain to go to the middle of the field to flip a coin. The winner would select which side of the field they wanted their team to start. We ended up winning the coin toss and chose the side we felt the wind would be to our advantage.

They kicked the ball, and it was apparent their techniques and movements were those of a professional team. The uneasy feeling returned and my stomach started to tangle up in knots again. We were not expecting such calculated movements and smooth passes. We also found ourselves at a disadvantage playing on a sandy field. It made it almost impossible to keep up with their speed, passing techniques, and offenses. They were prepared and executed with perfection. Our training skills of stamina, movements were knee deep in the sand and we were hardly moving and wanted the referee to end the game and get us out of our misery. Needless to say, we lost, and we felt humiliated.

On the way out of the field I heard a fan who was watching the game say, “Ma Eendhum Salfah, Teggha Welhaggha” which translates into , “They don’t have game, kick it and run after it.” He was talking about our team and our game plan, or lack of it. These words resonated with me until today. I will always remember them whenever I embark on a project or job. I will never forget how I felt at the end of the game that afternoon.

I have learned to be prepared, train, learn, do the due diligence from all angles. Take risks but be ready for all consequences, success and failure are just part of the game.

It was a miserable experience at a very young age on that sandy soccer field but a great life lesson and I am very grateful to the guy I overheard saying, “Teggha Wellhaggha.” Is this your strategy? I HOPE NOT!