Tough Guy
Just before moving Evan kept telling us he really wanted to play football. It's his "favorite sport" and he even wanted to play the real deal tackle football with pads and everything... so I put Glen in charge of getting it all set up for him to be able to play this fall...
He paid the outrageous amount (I found out what it was after the fact) and Evan was on the team!!... no big deal I thought... well pretty soon we received a booklet in the mail telling us the rules and regulations and before he could practice with the team he had to have a health physical???? This was my first red flag... Keep in mind these kids are only 8 and 9 years old!!! They run around at recess what's the difference?? but whatever I thought, it's good to be sure they all check out I guess... and then came more "fine print"almost on a daily basis .... Practice 5 days a week from 5 -7 PM and games EVERY Saturday... I was a bit peeved and this all started in AUGUST... the hottest month of the year!! These poor boys had 8 POUNDS of equipment on them and were doing serious drills... oh, get this- If they were late to practice they had to run laps???? it was totally for real football! Boys were throwing up!!!! So at this point I'm wondering if it's too late to bag it and get our money back... meanwhile Evan is SO excited about it so I'm trying not to complain in front of him... He never did barf but was always bright red and dripping wet after practice and he had to show up late to all of our end of summer BBQ's and I swear he never got a descent dinner... none of us did!!! well we couldn't bag it, so I figure he wants to play we paid a whopping amount for that cute little uniform not to mention all kinds of other "fees" so he's going to play and we're going to make the best of it! Then we got the game schedule and of the nine games SEVEN were south of Ogden....EVERY Saturday!!! and I figured out why they needed that physical... you'd have thought this was NFL. Yelling coaches, screaming fans, jumping jacks, push-ups, ab crunches, running, tackling, hitting and then there were the cheerleaders, banners, crazy mothers etc... I couldn't believe these people were so serious about these little boys and football, what's the big deal??!! isn't it just for fun!!! apparently NOT!! But even after all of the complaints I have to admit the excitement in the air got to me and Football turned out to be sorta fun!! I found myself cheering a litttle, nervous for Evan and his team, my palms sweaty... hoping they'd get that touchdown... sitting on the sidelines eating a hot dog was not too bad and it turned out to be OK.... Evan played great as a lineman... great little blocker and he is smart... one of only a handful of boys on his team who were able to memorized all the plays (he got a booklet to study them... are you kidding!!!) anyway he did it and he LOVED playing... although, next year he'd like to be the running back or reciever... I'm pretty sure there's not going to be a next year...until he's about 12....but that's about the time when Eli and Gabe will want to be starting.... Ahhhhhh!!!! "welcome to raising boys" is what Glen tells me and I guess it's not too bad!!
Just before moving Evan kept telling us he really wanted to play football. It's his "favorite sport" and he even wanted to play the real deal tackle football with pads and everything... so I put Glen in charge of getting it all set up for him to be able to play this fall...He paid the outrageous amount (I found out what it was after the fact) and Evan was on the team!!... no big deal I thought... well pretty soon we received a booklet in the mail telling us the rules and regulations and before he could practice with the team he had to have a health physical???? This was my first red flag... Keep in mind these kids are only 8 and 9 years old!!! They run around at recess what's the difference?? but whatever I thought, it's good to be sure they all check out I guess... and then came more "fine print"almost on a daily basis .... Practice 5 days a week from 5 -7 PM and games EVERY Saturday... I was a bit peeved and this all started in AUGUST... the hottest month of the year!! These poor boys had 8 POUNDS of equipment on them and were doing serious drills... oh, get this- If they were late to practice they had to run laps???? it was totally for real football! Boys were throwing up!!!! So at this point I'm wondering if it's too late to bag it and get our money back... meanwhile Evan is SO excited about it so I'm trying not to complain in front of him... He never did barf but was always bright red and dripping wet after practice and he had to show up late to all of our end of summer BBQ's and I swear he never got a descent dinner... none of us did!!! well we couldn't bag it, so I figure he wants to play we paid a whopping amount for that cute little uniform not to mention all kinds of other "fees" so he's going to play and we're going to make the best of it! Then we got the game schedule and of the nine games SEVEN were south of Ogden....EVERY Saturday!!! and I figured out why they needed that physical... you'd have thought this was NFL. Yelling coaches, screaming fans, jumping jacks, push-ups, ab crunches, running, tackling, hitting and then there were the cheerleaders, banners, crazy mothers etc... I couldn't believe these people were so serious about these little boys and football, what's the big deal??!! isn't it just for fun!!! apparently NOT!! But even after all of the complaints I have to admit the excitement in the air got to me and Football turned out to be sorta fun!! I found myself cheering a litttle, nervous for Evan and his team, my palms sweaty... hoping they'd get that touchdown... sitting on the sidelines eating a hot dog was not too bad and it turned out to be OK.... Evan played great as a lineman... great little blocker and he is smart... one of only a handful of boys on his team who were able to memorized all the plays (he got a booklet to study them... are you kidding!!!) anyway he did it and he LOVED playing... although, next year he'd like to be the running back or reciever... I'm pretty sure there's not going to be a next year...until he's about 12....but that's about the time when Eli and Gabe will want to be starting.... Ahhhhhh!!!! "welcome to raising boys" is what Glen tells me and I guess it's not too bad!!
I was so mad about all the hubabaloo... I figured it didn't need to be so "official" but the first time Evan put on that little uniform one layer of ice melted off of me, maybe two... I've always loved a guy in a football uniform... they look so tough and manly and then there were all these mini guys running around tough and ... so cute! those tight little pants and big shoulder pads... He looked, well... like the real deal!!
Grandma and Grandpa came to cheer him on at one of the few games here in Logan!!
One good thing about the games being so far South is that Grandma and Grandpa Huber were able to see him play too!! ( oh and I can't forget a few stops at Target for me which meant a little shopping!!!)
After the season... The "team mom" (yep there was one of those) planned an awards banquet. Dinner and trophy's and farewell to lots of new found friends!
This picture says it all... Exhausted, but having fun!!
oh, yeah and that #1 is for my little NFL star!! We know your #1 Evan!!
oh, yeah and that #1 is for my little NFL star!! We know your #1 Evan!!
4 comments:
Okay, that's definitely way more serious than it should be for little kids!! I'm glad he had a good time, though, and I'm sure he learned a great lesson about working hard and sticking to his goals. But I totally agree with you that he should wait a few more years before doing it again. Kids don't need crazy schedules like that yet--they should just be kids!
He sure does look cute, though!
Woah! Lately John has all of a sudden had this crazy idea that Griffin is going to play football. But football in Texas is crazy! It is hard core with tackle football starting at age five along with all those practices! People here say if the kids don't start young they'll never play in high school. I'll be happy with just basketball and soccer. Evan does look pretty cute in that uniform.
Kristen
What a very cute boy! It's rough playin sports.
wow!! what a fun/crazy/great/tiring/wonderful/overwhelming/learning experience!
glad you survived!
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