My 14 year old daughter's youth football team won their Superbowl game yesterday (!) and I was just mulling over some lessons I've learned from her this football season.

Get to your spot . Kate heard this more times that she cared to remember this season. As a defensive end, her "spot" on the right side was just inside the line of scrimmage to make sure that no one ran the ball around her end. Her other job was to interfere with any passes that came her way. Oh.. and sack the quarterback (more on that later).

In yesterday's game Kate -- the tallest and skinniest kid on her team -- was double-teamed and slammed to the ground as often as possible. Another big kid, Chandler, was fighting off two offensive line guys all game as well. It appeared that the other team's strategy was to wear out the two biggest kids on defense in hopes of opening up scoring opportunities. In a display of true teamwork, the rest of the defensive team stepped up to the challenge and stopped several runs and passes.

On the offense side of the story, our team was able to put 6 points on the scoreboard in the first quarter but the rest of the game was a hard fought battle moving up and down the field with no further points from either team.

Fast forward to the end of the game. The other team was just inside the 10 yard line with one last play to go when they sent all of their eligible receivers into the end zone. Kate brushed by her opponent and ran toward the quarterback with arms fully extended anticipating a pass. In just a few heartbeats she reached the quarterback, wrapped those long arms around him and danced him to the ground ending their drive and the game.

The other team Moms exploded (they're Kate's most ardent fans) while I almost broke my voice hollering. What a great ending to a very tough game. We shouldn't have won on paper. The other team was bigger and more experienced... and to be fair... well coached. But everyone did their job and put their heart into the game and sometimes that means more than size or experience.

Day in... Day out... Get to your spot. Seize the opportunity when it comes along.

You can learn a lot from your kids if you just let them teach you.

Today we had the Superbowl party. Kate received the "Queen of the team"  (she was the only girl in the football conference) and "King of sacks" awards. I have to give a lot of credit to Kate's coaches. They took a chance on a kid who had never played football , dealt with the ensuing dynamics on the team ("how am I supposed to tackle a girl?"), never let up on her and always encouraged her.