Undokai (Sports Day) Take Two

Here are some pictures of my second sports day back during last fall.  There's a story at the end, too!

Here are the amazing banners again.  The yellow team did way better than the Unfortunate Unicorn of 2009.

Absolutely perfect day to be running around in headbands.

Here's the blue team winning the competition....

And here's a picture focused on the yellow team captain in agony because I wanted to remember.

The teams were very evenly matched this year, and even the last place team, yellow was close.  However, the yellow team captain took it incredibly hard, and kept his composure as long as it took to accept the third-place trophy before collapsing in tears.  He had been running around with unbeatable spirit the whole day, cheering every member of his team and taking a lead in most every activity, and not in an egotistical way.  He really poured himself into the competition, and in the wild, exuberant way of a 15-year old boy it came crashing down hard. 

It's easy to be glib about "those cute Japanese kids and their crazy sports days", but the yellow team captain made me realize in a flash that the external context of a given activity often matters very little.  You're bound up in whatever you put your heart into, and no matter your age, that makes a difference.