I Get it Now

I didn't get it until now. I have had years to "get" it.  But I never did...until now.  I think it started with a quote on Tobin's new practice t-shirt.  Tobin is playing JV football for his high school and has had two-a-day practices all week which have been long and exhausting.  So, his practice shirt said, "We play for those who came before us, and we set the standard for those who follow us."  Pretty deep for a football shirt, right?  I really thought about that statement and many that the Varsity coach, Coach Mac, has said the night of the parent meeting...and somewhere along the way, inbetween making lunches for T all week long that were big enough to share...and giving a young football player a ride home..and seeing the reaction of people to the QO football teams, I get it.

Being a part of a football team is about being a part of something more.  A community....a utopian community....I don't think that's the perfect word though.  It's just that you're a part of something that means something to sooo many people.  Here are some of the other connections which helped me "get" it.

1.  Coach Mac explained that his 8 yr old daughter had been diagnosed with diabetes this past spring.  And he wanted to help raise money to find a cure.  So, as he was thinking about it, he realized that he had so many resources in his football team, his family.  So, one of the QO games was going to become a fundraiser for diabetes! This left such an impression on me for sooo many reasons, Coach Mac was a true leader, he was going to charge out on that field and charge ahead to find a cure.  He was reaching out and it made me want to reach in.

2.  The second thing is that Tobin is finally playing football with soooo many of his friends.  For so long I have felt he seemed a fish out of water, that he should have been at a different school where his friends were.  Now, the two schools have combined and he is finally playing with people that are like him, have similar goals and have their heart in the game of football.  Seeing them together is such a thrill for me.  It makes my heart sing.

3.  Another piece to my getting it are the stories that Tobin has shared with us through out the week.  He has come home with many stories of different things that have happened, whether it was his ranking (1st string, 2nd string, etc.),  the fun that team members poked at the coaches, or the stories of the coaches mispronouncing players' names, or to the coach not recognizing a player for a moment.  Tobin had so much laughter from these experiences.  Tobin is so good at retelling them that I feel like I was right out on that football field, hearing things and seeing them as they happen.    I love it.

4.  I think the final piece was yesterday at the scrimmage.  It was the first scrimmage of the season.  Tobin's eyes were so shiny, he was ready to play.  I got there and was so happy to immediately recognize some of the moms and dads from the team.  This was important because right away I felt connected to it somehow.  And then people who didn't have children out on the field started showing up to watch.  Students, who weren't playing football, started to show up and watch.  In some small way they were there to watch my son.  My son!! It was definitely an emotionally charged moment when I realized this.  For the first time I saw that a team (be it football, soccer, baseball, etc) means something to people other than the team and those immediately connected to it.  So, basically, outside the moms, dads, and players, people were there to watch their high school football teams and see how they were performing.  So, interesting.

I get it now!