My 9-year-old son is on a soccer team. It’s his first year and he’s amazing at the game.

It’s a great team. While they are undefeated, they don’t take themselves too seriously. Abe’s team is a bunch of kids the same age who are all really good, and really goofy — a hilarious combination. It helps that “Coach P” lets them be 9-year-olds and knows how to motivate them to play well.

These kids clearly enjoy practices. Sometimes their goofiness can be quite dramatic. For instance, when one of them takes a soccer ball in the stomach, he doubles over and hits the ground, then writhes about as though in unbearable pain. The other teammates stand and giggle; somehow, they know when their teammate is actually hurting.

Which is why I was so touched by what I saw during in last Thursday’s game:

One player fell to the ground after a ball hit him in the abdomen. When he didn’t immediately get up, the coolest thing happened: every player on the field stopped and got down on one knee. The coach ran to the player and helped him off the field; the players stood only after the player walked off the field, and they applauded him in support. (He was okay, by the way).

I wish I had brought my camera; the sight was truly breathtaking, and for me, a tearjerker.

In a perfect world (I’ve got my rose-colored glasses on right now), we could take some lessons in good sportsmanship and apply them to how we live as citizens in the day-to-day. How often do we simply move on when we see someone in pain? It’s someone else’s problem, right?

Too often we live life as though it’s “every man for himself,” and we as a society suffer for that mentality whether we choose to acknowledge it or not.

I guess watching young kids display good sportsmanship encourages me about the future.

And, I admit, the dramatic silliness is great enterainment for me. It’s win-win.

© Alexa Lopez 2008