Am I Really Ready for This?

It happened so fast. I swear, just the other day he was a widget...playing football for the first time!

As a parent, it seemed every parent that had a child as old as mine was sitting next to me, all lined up in our various fold-up sports chairs, along the field watching as our boys learned their game. They learned how to tackle, learned how to pass, learned how to run with the ball without dropping it, and learned how to hit foam pads.  They also learned how to do push ups, leg lifts, and run around the fields--all with equipment and a huge helmut on!  It made us laugh to watch them; it made us proud to watch them; and there were times it scared us to death to watch them--at the bottom of that pile!  But they rose up from the pile with the biggest grin on their faces--proud to still be holding that football!

Seven years later, my son has just completed his final season with his youth football team, the Pioneers. This program has taught him more than just football--this program has taught him responsibility, teamwork, sportsmanship, and character.  I just can't believe it's over!  That fact alone means one very important thing...he now moves on to high school.  Am I really ready for this?

In looking back on the past seven years, I am reminded of so many of the important people that have played a critical role in my son's life.  The first person to take my son under his wing and never let go was Coach Joe--he always kept an eye out for my son.  He spoke of God, Country, responsibility, parents and homework.  He taught our boys the game of football, and he taught our boys how to grow into young men.  He had a good heart and used it well. 

Coach John was another coach that taught my son so many things!  Not only was he a coach to my son early in his youth football career, my son also had the chance to play for him again last year.  Coach John knew his stuff and always shared what he knew--he also cared about the players as individuals and it showed in the way he treated them on and off the field.  He is another coach my son has always spoken of having a great deal of respect for.  His own sons are tremendous athletes and I'm sure it is due in part to what they have learned from their father!

Coach Steve was my son's coach at a critical time--when he didn't make weight and needed to be "bumped up".  It came as a surprise and was the first time he was playing with players he did not know well--away from his neighbors and his comfort zone.  But Coach Steve took him aside and shared his own experiences with my son.  Coach Steve was an NFL player and my son knew he spoke from experience and knowledge.  It was a blessing in disguise!  My son has always said that the years he played for Coach Steve were the years he learned the most.  When he and a teammate attended the Chicago Bears Youth Football camp a few summers ago, the camp leaders were amazed at the things that these two young Pioneer players knew--they were bumped up two age levels strictly because they had demonstrated knowledge and abilities beyond where their peers were at.  That, my son has said, was specifically due to Coach Steve.  "Teaching us the NFL swim move", I remember him saying. 

While I don't mean to exclude any coaches who have had a positive impact on my son, these coaches have had the greatest impact, based on what my son has said to me and what I have seen in him.  Everything we've done with the Pioneers has truly been an amazing experience, so much so that I've photographed and written about it for the past several years in our local papers.  Someone once said to me, "don't you think it's a bit much, writing all these articles about your son?"  I was shocked...I responded simply by saying, "Really, find me one of my articles where I mention my son, and don't mention any of his teammates...or where I mention him at all!"  My focus of writing the articles was to promote the teams, promote the players and coaches, and to hopefully get an article and a few photos into a local paper so that the kids could see themselves and their names in the paper.  The players loved seeing themselves--as did the parents, grandparents, and even the teachers!  It was never about me or my son...but it sure was nice when he did do something worthwhile that I could report on!

With high school looming around the corner, I have to recognize that it is time to allow the professionals to do their job.  Youth football is not a sport covered by the local papers--it is a sport that moms and dads have to write about and submit to the papers.  High school football...well, there are professional photographers and real reporters to cover it all!  What will I do?  Can I actually watch a game with my own eyes...and NOT through my camera lens???  Am I really ready for this???