Football and tears

We are a sports family. My husband coaches and my sons play. What we play has changed over the years and with the kids but a constant has been football. A lot of that may have to do with the town we live in. Football is the town, or I should say county. We live in a county that has the biggest high school rivalry in our state. It is legendary. Hours before game time, and I mean 4 or more hours here, people begin tailgating and filling up the stadium. Children are educated from infancy on what team they are for, what colors they will wear and who they will associate with depends on that information. Along this same story line, running underneath it actually, is the irony of two small middle schools that compete against each other until that pivotal 9th grade year when they combine at one of the two county high schools. Then they all wear the proud red and black to fight against that other side who dons gold and black. That side of the county has only one middle school. That little middle school, it has only one feeder elementary school, is where I am proud to say my children have attended, are currently attending and will attend in the future. Last week my oldest spent what may his last game as an assistant coach for this team. His little brother also plays for this team. It was emotional. I kept it together. Until the next morning….when I saw his post on facebook and then this mom lost it. Here is his post. "Look at the record and the stats and this was a season to forget. And most people probably would. But I would say to those people that they are missing the point of what a coach’s true job is. Sure it’s great to win games, but I believe that our main job is to help develop and grow our players not only as athletes but as members of society. Winning is great, don’t get me wrong. I love it. But when winning becomes my soul purpose as a coach, I want someone to take away my whis…tle. This year I saw a group of young men and lady grow from week to week. They never gave up and always fought hard. And after each and every game they were smiling. They had fun playing this great game that I love dearly and probably saved me from becoming a coach who cares little about anything but winning. For that I am thankful. And because I don’t know what the future holds for me, if this happens to be my last year at Bethel, it will always hold a special place in my heart. I love each member of this team dearly from the guys I coach with, to the players and managers. Each one of these young people will hold a special place in my heart. Especially my War Pigs, who, for some, I was able to coach for their whole middle school career. To them I wanna say thanks for putting up with a sometimes crazy almost bipolar like coach and thanks for giving me lots of laughs and good times. To all the other players on this team, thanks for believing in me, the other coaches and yourself, and promise me that you will never stop fighting. To the guys i coached with who i know view as brothers, thanks for helping me learn the ropes, I don’t know what I would have done sometimes without yalls support. To all of the faculty that I interacted with at Bethel, thanks for allowing me to come back and coach for 3 years at my home. To all the parents, thanks for entrusting me with your kids, it’s been an honor. And to God, thanks for allowing me to do something I truly love and that is coach kids in football and life. Again, look at the record, and we didn’t accomplish much this year. But look at the kids, and we accomplished a lot." ‪#‎BlueDemonFootball‬ ‪#‎Family‬ ‪#‎WarPigs‬ ‪#‎KeepFighting‬ see what I mean!