hey coach

It came and went.

*snaps fingers* Just like that.

The football season for my team came and went just like that.

As many of you know, I coach my son, Kameron's 8 and under youth football team. I've coached them for the past 4 yrs. We finished this season with a 7-3 record. We lost in the semi-final round of the playoffs. As I reflect on the season that we had, I can only smile. We've been working with the kids since mid MAY. I am extremely proud of the kids. They worked hard and did EVERYTHING that we asked them to do.

Coaching these kids have been very rewarding to me on a personal level. As I told the parents after the last game, it's all about watching the kids get better and developing as young men ON and OFF the field. I've watched the kids get better each week. I've watched their personalities come to life. While it's not always easy to keep the attention of 7 & 8 yr old, I coached a great bunch of kids. Our season started in the sweltering heat of May as we did conditioning and agility drills. Then our practices started in July. Unfortunately, the season ended on a brisk November afternoon. Nevertheless, I enjoyed every minute of it. Not only do I get a chance to coach the game that I love, but I also get a chance to help mold young men. I also enjoyed watching Kameron develop as a player. He started on offense at tight end and on defense at cornerback. It's been interesting to see him develop his confidence on the field.

As a coaching staff, we made sure that the kids perform well at school as well. If a kid gets out of line at school or at home, they were disciplined at practice. They hated it but they know that we don't play. Each kid had to regularly bring their report cards to practice. We wanted to monitor their progress in school. Sometimes we would randomly show up at their schools just to make sure they were "in line". We were hard on them...but they all delivered. Now we are faced with an off season. It feels strange not to go to practice after work. It feels even stranger to wake up on a Saturday and not have a game or practice. We've been doing this since July so I'm definitely missing the game and the kids.

There's always next year


*team chant before/after practices and games*

All we got
All the time
All out
All game
All season
Blood, Sweat, Tears
Yours not ours
In God we Trust
Defeat all others
SHUT EM DOWN!!!