“Lilah, don’t catch it so we can go and eat!”
Lilah was in a dodgeball pickle. What was stronger - her hunger to win, or her hunger to eat?
Snack time was approaching. But it was girls versus boys dodgeball at our half term holiday club. Think of battle cries louder than an angry lion. Think when England play France at rugby, AKA ‘le crunch’.
And Lilah could almost taste that crunch…the crunch of the barbeque Popchips that were propped up in her bag by her sandwich, banana and Frube.
She was the only girl left. Her teammates were down, literally spread out, lying on the floor. Lottie repeated, “Lilah, don’t catch it so we can go and eat!” If Lilah caught one of the balls the boys threw (their aim was to hit Lilah and win the game), one of her team gets back into the game to join her.
That second, a ball was tossed from the boys. It flew gracefully through the air, light as a feather. The girls watched, agog, as Lilah expertly leapt forward and grabbed the ball with two hands. They were still in the game and Evie re-joined her teammate on the pitch.
There was an outcry of “we’re huungry” from the rest of the girls on the floor and the boys groaned at having come so close.
But just as quickly as the match turned around, it was over.
You see, whilst Lilah had caught the ball, she wasn’t that serious about winning the game and it was very clear her team weren’t too fussed either. Teammates stick together. And hungry teammates really stick together. Lilah and Evie got hit shortly after and there was barely even a celebration from the boys as, with that, our mini athletes charged to where the real prize was - their snacks.
So what can we take from this?
Competitions don’t always need to be big grudge matches, especially at a holiday club.
Winning comes in many different, crunchy ways.
And snacks are great.