In a small town near Hyderabad, there was a 12-year-old boy named Ali. He was not only good at his studies, but he also excelled in sports. He was considered the best player on his school’s soccer team. Whenever he had time, he practiced soccer in his school ground with his coach and also at home. His intelligence and hard work earned him fame in his school as well as in the neighbouring schools. Whenever there was a town championship and Ali participated, everyone was confident that his team would win. When the exam results were announced, he would always top them. Gradually, this made Ali proud and overconfident. Soon, Ali had to pay the price for his pride and overconfidence. As time passed, his overconfidence made him skip practice sessions, thinking he no longer needed them. He also started ignoring his coach’s advice. As the annual sports day approached, everyone was practicing hard, but Ali, feeling overly confident, went home instead. At home, he played video games on his mother’s phone. At first, he didn’t find it very interesting, but within minutes, he was hooked and found it hard to put the phone down. He was glued to the screen and stopped only when evening came. The next day, he did the same. When his coach asked him to come for practice, Ali made lame excuses, skipped the sessions and rushed home to indulge in his newfound interest. Days passed, and finally it was the day of the sports championship. Since Ali was the best, he was not replaced by anyone, but his coach was disappointed with his behaviour. The coach called him aside and reminded him that he hadn’t shown up for practice all through the week. He warned Ali that even the best can lose if they become overconfident and do not practice. The coach ended the conversation by simply wishing him good luck. Ali soon sensed that something was wrong. He was neither energetic, nor fully active. When the match started, he found it hard to even run. The truth was simple, the more you practice, the more active and energetic you become. Ali quickly felt exhausted and struggled to score even a single goal. Meanwhile, the opponent team secured goal after goal. Ali’s team was losing. It was disheartening to see how the team that always won was now struggling because their best player was out of form. Although Ali’s team managed to score a goal, it wasn’t Ali who made it happen. Instead, it was Ziyan, another boy from his team, who played hard and scored two more goals. As the game went on, the opposing team needed just one more goal to win. At that moment, Ali realised his mistake. He felt terrible when he saw his coach encouraging Ziyan to score. In the end, Ali’s team lost. Ali was devastated and sad, and so was every student from his school. They were cheering for Ziyan and even wanted to replace Ali with him. The next day, Ali’s coach sat down with him and said, “You should always work hard and practice your skills, even if you’re good at them. When you stopped coming to practice, I knew why — it sometimes happens that we lose our focus. But those who turn their triumphs into their strength are the ones who always stay ahead. Do you think Ronaldo, the world’s best soccer player, skipped practice just because he was talented? Even with his incredible skills, he never missed a day of practice. Always remember, practice makes a man perfect.” From the next day onward, Ali started practicing again, remembering his coach’s golden words and leaving all his bad habits behind. The lesson that Ali learnt from this incident was that if you are good, you should strive to be better, and if you are better, you should aim to be the best, but never become overconfident. Published in Dawn, Young World, March 15th, 2025