“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

Like millions of others, I became a fan of the Emmy award winning show Ted Lasso. It is a story of an American high school football coach who ends up managing a British soccer team. (It’s not about the sport, per se, but the people and their lives.)

One of the themes carried through all three seasons of the show is the sign Ted places above the locker room door when he first arrives: BELIEVE, it reads, written in capital letters.

My son had recommended the show to me, so when he suggested a new series, Welcome to Wrexham, I jumped right in.

It’s a docuseries about the two Hollywood stars who bought a soccer team (that’s football to the rest of the world), in Wales, and the town who supports and loves their team.

Real, poignant, and addictively entertaining, the series draws the audience into the unscripted lives of the players and the people of the town, as well as father and son relationships. I found it brilliantly constructed and quite moving.

Watch it. That’s all I’ll say, else I’ll continue to gush like a seven-year-old who has just visited Disney World.

It’s the stuff of dream-making; it makes you want to believe.

And that’s the first step to becoming. Anything.

~          ~          ~          ~          ~

Last week I babysat for my grandchildren while my son and daughter-in-law took a much-deserved week away together. It was a wonderful experience for all of us.

One evening, I had a conversation at bedtime with my grandson. He will turn seven in June. The kid is off the scales when it comes to EQ.

He’s talking about his best friend, with whom he plays soccer, and telling me about a hurtful exchange on the field. (That’s pitch to the rest of the world.)

Peyton’s a natural athlete, his friend, apparently, not so much.

I’m still murky on the actual details, but the telling of it involved a trembling chin and teary eyes, so it was important.

After ten minutes or so, according to Peyton, it came down to this:

“I think Colin doesn’t believe he can be a good soccer player… but he can.”

He paused, his little mind whirling away. I waited.

“Because you gotta’ believe to become,” he finished, firmly.

Mike drop.

Wha-a-t?

He learned that from somewhere…

(Way to go mom and dad!)

~          ~          ~          ~          ~

Yesterday, April 22, 2023, the little town of Wrexham saw their dreams come true: They believed and became champions.

They won the league and will be promoted to the English football league. (Watch the show.)

It’s a big, big deal, to a whole lot of people.

And here I am writing about it, sharing the story (but watch the show) because it so inspired me.

And because, as Ted and Peyton and Rob and Ryan know, you gotta’ believe.

Then you become.

“Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith will be to see what you believe.” ~ Saint Augustine