A little ditty I wrote last year, as we begin a new year, I have chills thinking about the fun ahead of us :)
Football Fall
It's still a little too dark, and a little too early for being awake on a sunday morning. Uniforms are hanging, freshly laundered Maroon and Black with crisp white numbers and sparkling silver trim, there are pads and cleats, and cheer sneakers to lace up. Water jugs to fill, breakfast to grab and go, a truck to warm up and Caffeine to locate. A quick drive across town as the sky lights up, as we park the truck and see other families starting to arrive and file in we can feel it, the air, it is tingling not from the cold, but with excitement for the day.We make our way across the cold hard Tarmac of the local High school. Bundled up in our team colors, lugging pads, helmet, cheer bucket, blankets and of course hot, steaming coffee from the local gas station.
As the bleachers begin to fill with parents, we nod, say good morning, a hug or two here and there maybe, we drink our coffee, and rub our hands and wait. The anthem plays, and it's a perfect still frame of the day. Everything stops, the snack shack, the gate, the parking lot buzzing with people, it's all eerily silent. Nobody moves, or speaks, it is a fiercely patriotic town we live in, and you stand, with your hand over your heart, and you look at the flag, and clap at the end. The teams are lined up on either end of the field with their coaches, the cheerleaders, the banner, it's all still. Even my son and his rowdy friends, are still, for once. It makes me proud, to be here, to be an American, in the midwest, in Youth football. It is one of my favorite moments. Until of course, they start calling the names, of our kids, my peanut sized cheerleader who you almost cant see from the stands except for her shimmering pompoms. The names of my son's team, his friends, sons of people I have met, and of course, MY player, who was so excited they got his name right this week!
We walk up to the gate with our uniformed minions and get a "good luck Warriors" as we pay for the adults and make our way to the cold bleachers. The grass is dewy as the Fall frost melts quickly in the bright November sunshine slowly spreading across the sky. We pass the snack shack, being run by a host of parents from another warrior team. They shout "Good luck Warriors!" to the kids as we pass, as I feel the warmth from the grill and the ovens in the snack shack, i catch a whiff of cheeseburgers and funnel cakes making me wish I had grabbed more breakfast.
Picking a spot on the bleachers, drying them off from the melted frost, saving room for friends, and making sure my kids land where they are needed is my weekly routine. The youngest cheers for the first team to play, the undefeated Bantam team, and my son plays for the 3rd grade team that plays after them. She goes to warm up with her squad, he goes in search of friends/teammates to throw the ball with until his coach shows up and starts their practice. It's a well oiled machine this youth Football program. Saturday and Sunday is a relentless parade of youth teams from Bantam up to 6th grade, all day long, a team and a cheer squad start, the other team practices ..then the next squad shows up and waits in the wings. The team that just finished goes back on the field to welcome the next onto the field Warrior greeting Warrior, everywhere we go, it's a Lebanon thing, I don't see every team do it, you can feel the loyalty in such little minds and bodies, it's a pretty cool thing to witness. As the bleachers begin to fill with parents, we nod, say good morning, a hug or two here and there maybe, we drink our coffee, and rub our hands and wait. The anthem plays, and it's a perfect still frame of the day. Everything stops, the snack shack, the gate, the parking lot buzzing with people, it's all eerily silent. Nobody moves, or speaks, it is a fiercely patriotic town we live in, and you stand, with your hand over your heart, and you look at the flag, and clap at the end. The teams are lined up on either end of the field with their coaches, the cheerleaders, the banner, it's all still. Even my son and his rowdy friends, are still, for once. It makes me proud, to be here, to be an American, in the midwest, in Youth football. It is one of my favorite moments. Until of course, they start calling the names, of our kids, my peanut sized cheerleader who you almost cant see from the stands except for her shimmering pompoms. The names of my son's team, his friends, sons of people I have met, and of course, MY player, who was so excited they got his name right this week!
During the games we watch, we cheer, we high five each other, we pat each other on the back when someone's kid gets his name called for a tackle, or a TD. We yell at the refs, nicely, we cheer, and clap, give thumbs up, and tell our boys to have fun. Afterwards, no matter what, the team is gathered around their coaches, and the parents gather around them, and we pat them on the back. We tell them how proud we are, how well they did, and if they lost, they know it, so we tell them now they have to try harder, and we know they can do it. Win or no win, we love our boys, and our cheerleaders! The two teams I am proud to be part of are two groups of classy, kind, decent people. Their kids reflect that, and it makes loosing easier, it makes winning sweeter.
Football has always been a huge part of my life, from my Dad who tried out for the NE Patriots, my brother who played in Highschool, my whole family watching every sunday, us kids playing pick up games year round as far back as I remember. I have always been a fan, but being a football Parent at a home game, is a whole new level. It's a feeling you will never 'get' until you have been there. My daughter loves to cheer, and my son loves football, and they are good at it, these are the times I don't worry about what kind of car I drive, or whether I get a new purse this year, or even Starbucks regularly. If this is what makes my kids happy, we will spend the money, we will give it the time, the weekends, deep into fall and cold to sit through the Post-Season. We will give it our weeknights for practices next to cold, cleared corn fields and under bright lights in the dark fall nights. This is Football life, and we LOVE it! Go WARRIORS!!
Sara Doenges 10-21-1012
Go Warriors!!!!
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