IMAGINE
Statistics suck. As a recovering math major, I never thought I would say that, but they do. Stats paint a picture of trends that have nothing to do with what is possible for you. Seriously, F— the statistics.
Statistically speaking, second marriages don’t work, women can’t get pregnant after forty, and Scotland has no chance to with the world cup. I’m here to call B.S. What matters most is what you believe is possible.
Did you know that the Japanese have a term for what they call “Broken Heart Syndrome”? Yep- Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. People suffer the physical ailments of heart problems because of things like loss. Grief literally breaks their heart. According to Harvard Health, “in rare cases broken-heart syndrome can be fatal.”
Wait, what? If we can die from a broken heart, can’t we flip that around? Listen to the podcast for some compelling evidence. When we choose to focus our thoughts on healing, prayers, and love, miracles happen.
Since it is the 2026 World Cup and Scotland is going to win the whole thing, I’m going to tell you a story about soccer, belief, and why statistics can F— off.
BELIEVE
I believe there is infinite possibility for what we can create in our world. I believe the stats are not predictions and that is why sports are such a blast to watch. No matter what happened before, you just don’t know who will get the win on the day.
This brings me to women’s soccer. (Football for many of you.)
For me, growing up in the seventies and eighties, there was no professional women’s soccer team. Scholarships for girls to play soccer at the university level were just beginning to gain traction in the USA, and the national team had barely started.
My high school coach, Betty Ellis, was the first woman to referee in a major sports league. Known as “Sideline Betty”, US Soccer did a beautiful article in 2021 to celebrate the forty year anniversary. Coach Ellis forever changed the world of officials for major league sports in the USA. She did the impossible.
She forever changed the world of sports officiating. For a rag-tag group of kids from the sticks, she changed our lives.
Coach Ellis taught us soccer. Yes, she made us learn plays, do countless drills and study a winning mindset. She made us write 3x5 cards with the words: Dream, Drive, Discipline, Desire, Determination. She made us do “two a days” like the football team in the summer heat where we had to practice for hours twice each day, just like the boys. She held us to a higher standard and demanded we train like kick-ass, competitive athletes.
She taught us to believe a powerful story about ourselves, one we didn’t yet believe. You are capable. You are strong. You are resilient. She coached us to an unlikely, statistically improbable 2A State Title win. We won the state championship because she taught us to believe. You are a champion.
Those lessons became a part of us. When many of us graduated in 1988 a few of our players got full ride scholarships to college. A few of us played as walk-on athletes at local universities. Many of us played for decades in rec leagues. We were lucky enough to have those opportunities, but after university? There was nowhere to go because the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) didn’t exist.
On television we might see female tennis stars or ice skating phenoms, but girls soccer? Nah. No way in hell. Forget it. The idea that we could play professionally was inconceivable. We had no evidence of the world to come. The dream of a professional women’s soccer league was a fantasy.
Except that it wasn’t.
DISCOVER
The NWSL is going strong. We’ve had the women’s world cup since 1991 and professional leagues are thriving in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. (If you’re keen to learn more, read my friend Clare McEwen’s Substack & book She Can Kick It, she is obsessed with football in the best way.)
Forget the Debbie Downers who lament, “It will never work.”
“Nobody cares about women’s sports.” “Scotland has no chance.” Forget the people who share the logic and statistics. Bah humbug!
Belief is what matters.
Coach Ellis told it to us in the eighties and now, I’m reminding you: You are capable. You are strong. You are resilient. You are a champion.
(Scotland, that last bit is especially for you, because seriously lads, F—- the statistics. You can freaking win the whole thing. Ted Lasso that shit & BELIEVE.)
We get to choose where we put our focus, our prayers and our belief.
Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
-Napoleon Hill
Professional women’s soccer exists. Broken hearts can be mended. Scotland can win the 2026 World Cup.
What do you choose to believe, against all odds?
Believing is your superpower.
xoxo
Shannon
I enjoyed reading this.
I especially liked the humour. The "Scotland's going to win the World Cup" bits had me rolling on the floor. 😀
PS You might have heard of a side from Down Under? Socceroos. 😉
Such a great read, belief is definitely one of those things that can help you defy the odds no matter what situation you're in and so many people through the centuries have personified that🙌🏾🙌🏾