Son on TV

Well, I finally got to see Zach's team on TV today. They showed re-runs of last Saturday's championship game. It was so cool to see our little guys on TV. They were so cute! What will be fun is watching these little boys grow up together as a team, cause they will be together until 7th grade, then it will be fun seeing which ones go on to school ball together.
These little boys, on both teams, wanted to win so bad. You could see it through out the whole game. Neither team gave up! That in itself is a victory, even if Z's team didn't end up winning. They will always be winners to me!
It had been fun to watch them grow as a team... The only boy that Zach knew at the beginning of the season was a boy that he had met at the combine a few weeks earlier. Zach and this little boy almost had gotten into a fight because the boy butted in front of Zach in the line.... both the little boy and Zach were all "brisseled up" ready for a fight until they started the next drill. (I was kind of glad of that, cause this little boy was a head taller than Zach!) I watched from the bleachers during the combine, and watched Zach and this boy exchange looks on the field the rest of the combine. Well, wouldn't you know it, this little boy ended up being on Zach's team.... as a mom, I thought, "uh oh, nothing good is going to come of this." Well, I was wrong, now Zach and this little boy are friends and team mates... I think they have forgotten what happened in August! (it was hard on me to watch what happened at the combine, to let him handle it and not swoop in and "protect" my baby)
As for the rest of the team, only about 1/2 of the boys knew each other, because they had played together as Mighty Mights the last two years. The other half, except for a few "move ins" had never even played football before. You could tell that they were unsure and nervous around each other. Zach was so nervous those first few months. He had never played football before and had no idea what he was doing. I had to give him lots of encouragement during breaks as well as before and after practices. One day, I was giving him some encouragement when one of the other new kids who had just moved here, but had played football before, told him, don't worry, you'll catch on... then he taught him and easier way to get his helmet off... It was one of those feel good moments. It was something that this other little boy didn't have to do, but he did.
There was even a time, at about a month into it, where Zach said "Mom, I don't wanna play anymore." I told him that he signed up to play on this team and that he was going to stick with it this year, and then if he doesn't want to play next year, then that would be okay, but he was not going to quit on his team! A few weeks later, he came up to me and gave me a big hug and said, "Mom, thanks for not letting me quit, I love football now!" That's what it's about, for the love of the game. Although he doesn't get to play very much, he still enjoyed playing. And he played his heart out every time he was given a chance.
It was really fun watching them get to know each other and learn to work together. They really came a long way from late August til now.
I am one proud football mom!