Freshman Football

 I can't believe I haven't written yet about Neil starting his first year of high school football.  His first love is wrestling but he also really enjoys football.  He's had various practices throughout the summer and attended a couple days of football camp.  I'm not going to pretend I understand all the football lingo (just ask Neil, he'll roll his eyes and tell you I don't, haha).  He is playing tight-end and middle linebacker and he's on the kicking team.  If I jacked that up, well...I'm a girl!

 We've had two games so far this season and we've lost both games.  The boys take it pretty hard.  Right now Neil will tell you that their line sucks.  It's a reality check for quite a few of the players since they were undefeated for two years in a row.  I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, some of the kids needed to be brought down a bit from their cocky pedestals. 

 This week's game was especially rough.  It was hotter than it's been for a while and all of the kids were a bit sluggish, many were cramping and after they lost their lead, I think they just kind of gave up.  We need to strengthen their mental game!

 I love Neil and his teammates.  They really do work so hard.  I give a lot of the players major props because for many of them, once a week they go straight from football practice to a special wrestling practice.  That's pretty intense, that's almost 4 hours of straight heavy practice.

 I also love what football had done for Neil's confidence and overall social skills.  I also believe it has helped him focus more on school and other areas of his life.  What I don't love is that when he's super tired from practice and games is how vulnerable he becomes mentally.  He starts to talk down on himself.  But it's a great teaching opportunity for me.

I know he's going to learn and grow through this experience and we are going to get some wins in there.  I'm proud of him for being a part of something bigger than himself.  He's learning how to be a team player, leadership skills and a bit of humility.  All of those are great life lessons.

He's #40 in case you didn't figure it out!