Posts
I love Fall because it is the season of college football, and if you know me and my family, we LOVE the Cougars. But Cougar football is not what this post is about.
Fall is also the season for two of my sons PLAYING football. I can't think of anything I enjoy more than going to games and practices and watching my boys put on the pads/flags and get out there and have fun!
I have even subjected myself to being the coach of said teams. Last year, I was the head coach and offensive coordinator for Alex (10) and this year I am the offensive coordinator of Isaac's (6) team.
On Thursday at Isaac's game, things went really well for our team. We jumped off to a quick lead and we were totally owning our opponents. I felt like we could do anything against these guys. We put different kids in different positions. We ran crazy plays. Everything we attempted ended up in a touchdown.
The other team: nothing. Our defense continued to shut them down, play after play. In seeing the discouragement on the other teams' coaches and players faces, I determined that this was nothing new for them. It was obvious they hadn't seen much success throughout the season. It was tough to see other 6 year olds feeling a little discouraged.
So, towards the end of the game, I met with our team's other coach, and we decided we were going to help the other team out. We met in the huddle with our boys and asked if they were having fun! "YES" came the unanimous yell. We then discussed that we didn't think the other team was having as much fun because they hadn't scored (we learned later they hadn't scored all season). We asked the boys how they would feel if we helped them score a touchdown. EVERY boy shook his head in agreement that this is an idea they could support. They didn't care about the score. They were having fun and they wanted the other boys to have fun as well.
Operation "Don't pull the flag" was about to begin.
I walked over to the coach of the other team and I whispered to him, "Just run the ball."
I turned to Jenny. "Watch this."
The ball was snapped. The clumsy 6 year old handed the ball off to the closest guy. He started to run towards the outside. Our defense swarmed him like they had done all day, but then, something special happened. One boy dove purposefully towards the runner but obviously missed. The rest of our team collapsed on the runner, but instead of pulling the flag, they surrounded him and, not knowing what else to do, ran WITH HIM down the field. Our defense was the running back's own personal escort.
To the 15, the 10, the 5, touchdown!
The sidelines erupted.
The parents of the other team jumped to their feet cheering hysterically! Then our parents started to understand what had happened and they joined in the cheering. The other coaches ran to their players and embraced all of them. And then the players.... they celebrated like they just got every Christmas present they ever put on their wish list.
And our players just sat and watched. And smiled.
I glanced over at Jenny who understood what just happened. She had tears in her eyes.
I never thought one of the best moments as a coach would be watching another team score on our defense.
It was definitely something special.
my favorite movies of all time are sports dramas...based on a true story crap...i love it all. thanks for the based on a true story sports drama post, doesn't get better than that.
That's awesome. I love to see your soft side cuz I know there's one in there somewhere. jk
That was a great warm fuzzy!! What a lesson for the kids--and the grown ups, and yes, like KAte said that is a based on a true story sport drama for sure!
Love it! What a great memory you guys created for all of those boys!
Bakers, you continue to inspire me. I feel a little weird posting on your blog after not having really communicated with you since we moved really, but I am here to confess I blog stalk you occasionally, and I'm never disappointed. I hope I can produce some truly influential memories like that with my kids.