Football

Andrew's first season was hard. The boys were young and most hadn't ever played before. They gave it their all but it wasn't very pretty. We had a major celebration when we finally scored our first touchdown. In the end, the boys had fun and that was all that mattered. At the end of the next year, change was in the air. The league is divided up in 2 year blocks: 1st&2nd grade, 3rd&4th and 5th&6th. At the end of 4th, there were coaching changes as some coaches moved up and some left to coach younger sons. We ended up splitting off from our old Royal team and the Black team was formed. There was tension as egos were slightly bruised and we found ourselves facing former teammates at the line. In the end, the boys had fun and that was all that mattered. Last weekend was Andrew's final game of his final year playing pee-wee. Predictably, I found myself mulling over the last 4 years and a little misty-eyed at the end of this stage of my son's life. When he started playing in 3rd grade, there were several nights that he and Michael would come home from practice with Michael frazzled and Andrew pouting because Andrew felt like he was being pushed too hard. He wanted special treatment because his dad was a coach. He didn't understand why he couldn't always have things HIS way. About midway through this last season, another parent approached me just before kick-off. She'd been down with the boy's during their pre-game warm up. The head coach had started in on his pep talk when Andrew just chimed in and took over. He was pumped up and seized the opportunity to step in and lead his team. I am so proud of the person he is becoming. The first season, we had to pay him to actually chase down the ball carrier. If he missed his tackle, he'd just shrug and get ready for the next play - before that play was even over! We ended up paying him $5 every time he chased a player for more than 10 yards. I'll just say, he didn't make much. Over and over this season I heard my son's name being announced for a tackle, a sack, stripping the ball and even a fumble recovery that he ran for about 10 yards. He had initiative. He had confidence. He found that by letting go of his selfishness, he was paid back in friendships and the fruits of hard work. We ended the season with a 6-4 record. During our 3rd game, one of our key players broke his arm and you could just see the team deflate and it took us another week to recover. We lost the next game as well. Fortunately, the boys were able to pull together and we only lost one other regular season game. We won our first play-off game to a rival team in double overtime. That victory was very, very sweet. Our final game was lost on the 3 yard line with a score of 18-20. It was a hard, hard loss. Last night, our head coach shared this story with me. After our game was over, he and defensive coach were in the announcer's box calling Matthew's game. They were feeling the same unshakable anger, frustration and disappointment that many of the parents had having lost a game that we should have won. At one point they noticed that a big handful of the 5th/6th boys had gathered in an open grassy area and they were playing a pick-up game. For them, the loss had already been forgotten. It was disappointing to lose that way, but we had a great year. In the end, the boys had fun and that was all that mattered.


Jacob's tip of the day: If you bite a cd hard enough, it will form braille-like marks on both sides.