April has been a big month for us. Our fantastic U9s were crowned DPDL Champions, our U11s did the impossible by overcoming a much-fancied Mumbai City FC team on their way to the DPDL semi-finals and our brave little U7s overcame several challenges to reach the DPDL semi-finals too! Our U13s, U15s and Girls teams are still continuing with their season. But our recent successes have been a long time coming. And it has been built on the back of years of hard work. Much like the Root and Fruit System!

Have you ever heard of the Root System and the Fruit System in regards to personal growth? Until last month, neither had we. So basically it all stems from how uniquely plants & trees grow – which is that they grow in 2 directions at the same time; down into ground and upwards toward the light. That is to say a tree is both, gravitropic and phototropic. Being gravitropic means that it grows away from sunlight towards gravity. And phototropic means that it grows towards sunlight.

Now trees grow down before they grow up. So when the seed is underground, it is dark, damp and faces tremendous resistance while growing. The Root System faces significant challenges. It has to push through the tough soil to go down further and grow roots. But once it breaks upwards through the earth, it becomes the Fruit System where there’s much less resistance growing towards the sun and there are opportunities to bloom and flower. Okay, but what does all this have to do with us and our lives? A lot actually.

In a sense, the Root and Fruit System resembles how we work towards anything worthwhile. Because it’s the work we do in the darkness, when it is difficult and we are alone, unseen and unknown, that makes our work shine in the spotlight.

In the context of our recent successes, people only see the achievements, medals & trophies. But nobody knows how hard our children & coaches worked or how much personal time parents sacrificed to get their kids to training early on weekend mornings when they could be curled up in bed. Instead, folks just see a happy photo with a big, shiny trophy.

In life, people seldom want to invest in the “gravitropic” nature of the journey or the process where we hustle and grind despite the many failures & setbacks. But everyone wants to be part of the “phototropic” moments when all the hard work, effort and persistence pays off. The truth is, if you’re unwilling to go “down” and experience the frustrations & failures, there’s no chance you will ever truly experience the “ups”.

So if you’d like to invest in developing your child’s Root System, call 9819337766 or 9819227766 right away! The Fruit System (medals, trophies and accolades) will come when it is deserved 🙂

If you’ve scrolled down here, you’re probably aware of the immense relevance of this little nugget of wisdom based on the Root System and Fruit System. Trust us, it will be 2 minutes and 43 seconds well spent.