My son has been playing organized athletics for six years in a variety of sports. Unfortunately, the closest he or his teams have come to any kind of championship was a couple years ago when his baseball team vied for the league championship. That game was like the Bad News Bears going against the New York Yankees and didn't end well. Any other times his teams have made the playoffs in any sport it's generally been one and done.
That changed yesterday when his indoor football team, that plays full contact, won their 12 team league championship. It's true his was probably the best team in the league going into this game, but their opponent was right there with them. And this time the rout worked in my son's team's favor.
Turns out the championship opponent really wasn't right there with them.
The whole team played a great game. I'm proud of the job all the kids did and particularly how well my son played, especially since he missed a good chunk of the season with a broken finger. Every boy on that team can play, every boy on that team was willing to do what it took to win, the coaching staff was unbelievably strong and the game-to-game preparation they oversaw was amazing. I can't say enough good about the kids, the coaches and even the other parents of this team. If you've ever been involved on the parent side of youth sports you know parents can be far more difficult to deal with than the most uncoachable kids.
Even in victory it's (mostly) "eyes on coach" for a post-game review.
As proud as I am of my son I think I'm even more happy for him. He worked very hard to come back strong from his injury, he played very well when it mattered most and he showed that he deserved to be part of a championship team. I think the joy of him being able to call himself a champion is even better than the pride I can take in his performance. I hope he gets to do it a lot more in life.
Champion.
Also, I ran a few miles today. It felt good.
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