Saturday, October 25, 2008
Sports Update
Keeping up with kids has kept me from blogging lately. For families, there are lots of things that keep you from blogging. At the moment, this has primarily been football and girls' basketball.
Fortunately, these sports have also provided plenty of excitement and proud moments. Last night's football game was one of those moments. For the first time, my son, a sophomore, started. He played defensive tackle in a game that would determine the district championship. Neither his team nor their opponent had a loss in the district.
My son's team held a run focused team averaging over 271 yards rushing per game to 147 total yards. At one point their opponents had third down and 33 yards to go. The most exciting moment for the defensive line was a 4th and inches play in which the defensive line stopped the attempted run up the middle. At 6'3" and 250 lbs., my son provided some beef in the middle his team had needed.
Hopefully, this means more playing time in the future. My son had missed the first part of the season due to an injury suffered last spring. He's been back for about 6 weeks. He's played some offensive and defensive line. Now it seems the coaches have found where he can most help the team.
Not only was this a major victory for the year, but historically. Last night my son's team won for the first time ever over this team at this team's field. My son said when he came out of the locker room, which took 20-25 minutes, his head coach was walking up and down the length of the football field. His coach appeared to by crying tears of joy.
The coach is a man who loves football and his players. When they both come together like this, he has one of those peak moments.
I expected my son to be jumping with excitement. While he was excited, he was exhausted. When the team bus finally arrived back at his school, his first words were, "Take me home. I'm tired."
At the beginning of the year, this team was expected to be average, a little down for them. The first game was a shaky victory. Each game they improved. The only two losses were to much larger 6A school (my son's school is 3A). The coaching staff has done a phenomenal job preparing this group of hard working boys. Congratulations!!
On my daughter's part, she achieved a goal in basketball that I was not at all sure she could. As a seventh grader, she made the high school freshman basketball team. While the high school does have a weak girls' basketball program, at the moment, and several other seventh grade girls made the team, I couldn't be prouder. (I say "at the moment" because they have a new varsity head coach who appears to be the real deal and there is a lot of young talent in the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grades.)
Middle school girls were invited to try out. My daughter mulled over the decision for a couple of day. I had told her the decision was completely hers and I would stand behind her either way. She decided to try out. And, as has become her custom, when she sets a goal, she achieves it.
I don't know how much playing time she'll get. At this time, it's about the future. The extra practice and games will only serve to make her a better player.
Making me extra proud, my daughter brought home her report card the next week and she made all A's. Smart, beautiful, athletic...it doesn't get any better than that. :-) Oh, actually, it does. My son's girlfriend, in a complimentary way, told my daughter she was "incredibly silly." I like it when people achieve without taking themselves too seriously.
P.S. For the Billy Ray/Miley Cyrus fans - my son's team's win was over Billy Ray's alma mater.
Fortunately, these sports have also provided plenty of excitement and proud moments. Last night's football game was one of those moments. For the first time, my son, a sophomore, started. He played defensive tackle in a game that would determine the district championship. Neither his team nor their opponent had a loss in the district.
My son's team held a run focused team averaging over 271 yards rushing per game to 147 total yards. At one point their opponents had third down and 33 yards to go. The most exciting moment for the defensive line was a 4th and inches play in which the defensive line stopped the attempted run up the middle. At 6'3" and 250 lbs., my son provided some beef in the middle his team had needed.
Hopefully, this means more playing time in the future. My son had missed the first part of the season due to an injury suffered last spring. He's been back for about 6 weeks. He's played some offensive and defensive line. Now it seems the coaches have found where he can most help the team.
Not only was this a major victory for the year, but historically. Last night my son's team won for the first time ever over this team at this team's field. My son said when he came out of the locker room, which took 20-25 minutes, his head coach was walking up and down the length of the football field. His coach appeared to by crying tears of joy.
The coach is a man who loves football and his players. When they both come together like this, he has one of those peak moments.
I expected my son to be jumping with excitement. While he was excited, he was exhausted. When the team bus finally arrived back at his school, his first words were, "Take me home. I'm tired."
At the beginning of the year, this team was expected to be average, a little down for them. The first game was a shaky victory. Each game they improved. The only two losses were to much larger 6A school (my son's school is 3A). The coaching staff has done a phenomenal job preparing this group of hard working boys. Congratulations!!
On my daughter's part, she achieved a goal in basketball that I was not at all sure she could. As a seventh grader, she made the high school freshman basketball team. While the high school does have a weak girls' basketball program, at the moment, and several other seventh grade girls made the team, I couldn't be prouder. (I say "at the moment" because they have a new varsity head coach who appears to be the real deal and there is a lot of young talent in the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grades.)
Middle school girls were invited to try out. My daughter mulled over the decision for a couple of day. I had told her the decision was completely hers and I would stand behind her either way. She decided to try out. And, as has become her custom, when she sets a goal, she achieves it.
I don't know how much playing time she'll get. At this time, it's about the future. The extra practice and games will only serve to make her a better player.
Making me extra proud, my daughter brought home her report card the next week and she made all A's. Smart, beautiful, athletic...it doesn't get any better than that. :-) Oh, actually, it does. My son's girlfriend, in a complimentary way, told my daughter she was "incredibly silly." I like it when people achieve without taking themselves too seriously.
P.S. For the Billy Ray/Miley Cyrus fans - my son's team's win was over Billy Ray's alma mater.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
