I was lucky to attend the recent provincial high school soccer championships at UPEI where the Colonel Gray Colonels faced off against the Bluefield Bobcats in the men’s gold medal game. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day, the kind of day you feel lucky to be outside.

The stands were full of fans cheering for their team. You could feel an electric energy through the crowd. Both teams had a strong chance to win and they both wanted it badly.

My son, John Alex Vos, plays for Colonel Gray. He is in Grade 12 and this game would be the final one of his high school career. It would also be the final game for many of John Alex’s friends, including Will Harrison, Jonathan MacKenzie and Tiegan Misener. Fine young men from Colonel Gray who were taking to the pitch for their very last school soccer game.

Many years of hard work, dedication, practices and games had led them up to this moment. They wanted to bring the provincial banner home for their school as their lasting legacy.

The game began and the battle was on. Both teams played hard, with an intensity that was amazing to watch – they played their hearts out. Each team scored a goal and at the end of regulation time the game was tied 1-1.

Overtime began and the sun that had been shining so brightly began to fade. It was getting cooler and darker. The players were getting tired. At the end of two overtimes, the score was still 1-1. It was time to head into penalty kicks.

Each team picked players who would shoot for their teams. They lined up on the centre line and put their arms around each other’s shoulders, like brothers. Then one by one, each player walked up alone to take his shot. One team scored, and the other team scored. One team missed and the other team missed. Player after player took their shot, each team missing some and making some.

Then my son stepped up to take his shot. If he made it, his team would go on, if he didn’t, the game was over.

He squared his shoulders, sized up the net and took his shot.

The goalie, Isaac Wolters, dove at the ball and grabbed it, making an amazing save. The game was over. Bluefield had won.

There are moments in your life that stand still. This was one of those moments.

As the Bluefield team ran to hug their goalie and celebrate their victory, John Alex made the long, lonely walk back to his team, feeling the full weight of its loss.

Watching from the sidelines, it was easy to see the devastation on his face, on all the faces of the Colonels.

The teams lined up to receive their medals and when the ceremony was over, John Alex bent down, hands on his knees, trying to process what had just happened. It was at that moment that his friends encircled him. Buddies who had been cheering him on in the stands were now embracing him in a huge hug, showing their love, support and brotherhood. It was an amazing sight to witness.

Later that evening, there was a knock at the door. Teammates Jon and Will had stopped by the house to see how John Alex was doing. They wanted to be there for him. They did not want him to go through the pain of losing alone. And then later that night, a text from Tiegan, saying it has been an honour to play alongside him all these years. All of these beautiful gestures were made out of kindness, caring and friendship.

And it my hope as a parent, that when John Alex reflects on this day in the years to come, that he remembers, not the goal he missed, but the friends he made. Good friends who had his back when he needed it most.

They say that sports does not create character, it reveals it.

The lasting legacy of the Colonel Gray boy’s soccer team may not hang from a banner this year, but it will live on in the kindness and strength of character these boys displayed when it mattered most.

Congratulations to both teams on a wonderful final.

– Sarah Keaveny Vos, Charlottetown, is a proud soccer mom whose son plays on the Colonel Gray Colonels boy’s soccer team.