Matias Tomasino Selfless Behavior
I have been around Professional Sports since I’m 10 years old, seen many of the world’s top events and athletes, but can tell you with full conviction, that one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen came during an event while I was coaching in youth Soccer witnessing a moment of extreme selfless behavior.
The boy, who is now a fully grown man, and NCAA Division I Soccer Player was named Mattias Tomasino. I was coaching a freshman soccer team at a high school that put their full focus into the Varsity Team, and not too much for the Freshman squad, and we were scheduled to play our last game of the season against a school that had pretty much taken us out to the woodshed so to speak earlier in the season, 10-1.
Things To Consider;
Mattias scored 6 of their goals in the earlier game.
On the date of the new game, he made the one hour bus ride up with his team, and then decides he’s not going to play, telling his coaches he had an exam to study for.
I see him sitting under a tree reading, approached him and he said that he respected me and did not want to have our season end with another potential blowout.
He mentioned that there was a player in his position who had not played much during the season that would now get an opportunity to start.
I told him we had picked a couple of the players and that we would give them a better game this time. He stood his ground, and said that he was a man of his word, and had told his father his plan was to not play, so that is what he was going to do.
At halftime when the score was still 0-0, he never even flinched at going into the game. I whispered over to him that he should play. He just smiled and said, nope “This one is for you coach”
The game ended 1-0 in their favor, and we played way over our heads that day, but the one thing I’ll remember is that a boy of 13 years old, thought not about himself, or his stats, but rather about the feelings of the 22 boys on my roster.
Mattias and his brother Cisco both played at Northwestern University, and I am blessed for having coached against them both on several occasions, as they are both EVERYTHING that is good about youth sports.
Questions to be asked from this story;
Why is compassion Mattias showed an exception and not the rule?
Why is the personal growth more important than that of our neighbors, co-workers, opponents? Can’t development occur individually like it did for Mattias while occasionally doing something right for another?
Why do Adults, Bosses, etc… have the “completely destroy the adversary” type of mentality? A majority of the parents on his team were annoyed he didn’t play that day.
In order for this story to be effective, you should think back to both situations where you were on a team or group that dominated the opponent, and also a time where you on the receiving end of a devastating loss. How did you react in both situations? And what will you do in the future? Mattias reminds me so much of another athlete, Olympic Gold Medalist Meghan Duggan, in that they both make everyone around them better both on and off the field/ice.
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If you have enjoyed this story, I would be grateful if you could click the FREE subscribe button to this website so you'll be notified of all new stories and upcoming events. I also have included below, a button for you to review any of my sports books and sports word puzzles available for immediate download. I do have several books designed in Hard Copy and Audiobook versions should you desire
