Have you ever wanted something so badly, but you had to wait a few years to be able to do it? That was football for my youngest. He’d been waiting for this day for years. He went to camp and loved it. He even got “drafted” to the same team as a few friends from school. It was going to be an amazing season because, did I also mention, I LOVE football?!
With an opening like that you knew that there would be drama to follow.
Football in Derby, KS is a big deal. Like, all caps BIG DEAL. I grew up in Derby, so I’d always loved the game – but not actually playing I didn’t have the inside scoop. Like the fact that even at 1st and 2nd grade they practice for 2 hours 3 nights a week. And that’s during the school year! So my little guy is going to morning latchkey at 7am, school from 8am-3:30pm and them afternoon latchkey until 4:30ish, just to rush home and change for practice which goes from 6-8pm.
That’s a 13-hour day for a 7-year-old.
About a week into our new routine, we get the tears about being too tired and not wanting to go to practice. As a seasoned sports mom (copyright pending) I know that practices are never fun. Add in 90 degree weather, helmets, pads and tired kids, and it’s even worse. We came to an understanding, though, that practices are mandatory if playing time was wanted. Of course it was, so off to practice he went.
A few more weeks in, and there was still some whining about practices – but not nearly as bad as the beginning. And he comes home from practice pretty banged up! He’d been hit by a teammate hard enough to leave bruises. I know football is a rough sport, so we send him to the shower and make sure some Tylenol will be waiting for him. But the next practice comes around, and we’re back to full on meltdowns about not wanting to go.
I’m not going to bore you with all the details that went in to this season but there were a lot.
We went round and round with him about what expectations are when signing up for an activity and how he’s part of a team. He made a commitment to his teammates, along with the fact that we spent money and that has some meaning as well.
The practices he attended with a less-than-stellar attitude hurt his playing time and his position with some coaches – but I also think it says something about his character that he rarely complained about his playing time and came home from practices with a smile on his face. Do I think it’s a little ridiculous how serious everything is taken at a 2nd grade level? Yes, I do. I also think it’s hard for some kids who have never played a sport as physical as football to be expected to step in day one and be as serious as the adults are.
Overall I think that kids need to be held to some level of accountability when it comes to choosing their activities. If they are allowed to quit whenever the going gets tough they could grow up with the mentality that sticking it out doesn’t matter.
However, there are always exceptions to the rule and had we run into something greater than not wanting to go to practices this could have been a completely different subject I’d be writing about. I think his grit showed and since he was able to make it through the season he was part of a 10-0 team and came away with a medal, a trophy, and a smile that lasted longer than the ride home from the tournament.
Sometimes, it pays to stick through the tough times because trophies can last longer than tears.
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