Football

You know how parents try to make up for things they feel they missed out on in their own childhoods?  This may be happening here currently.  Taylor's parents always told him he couldn't play football because he'd be too small.  Yea, not so much.  So Taylor is determined that if Ethan wants to try playing a sport, he will never say no.  So when 2 of his primary friends signed up to play football (3rd grade is the first year) and Taylor asked him if he wanted to, always-enthusiastic Ethan said yes.  

He does make a cute footballer- missing teeth and all.

So even though I'm pretty sure Ethan will have more of my brother's physical build and will struggle to ever break 150 pounds as an adult, here we go.  Since there's so much to learn about playing the sport, practice started the first day of August and continued every weeknight Monday to Friday 5-6:30 at our local elementary school.  We made the best of it by turning it into a playground trip and picnic dinner every night.

And very quickly it was time for school to start and for their first game.  Ethan is #54.

It took us about a half hour and a few youtube videos to figure out where his pads fit on his pants and how to put all his gear on.  Safety first though :) right.

In truth I was very skeptical about trying football.  Ethan is a whopping 51 pounds as an 8 1/2 year old while 2/3 of his team is 75 pounds on up to 115.  So of course he wasn't going to be a lineman and thankfully the game is pretty slow when it's just peewee and he hasn't had any hard tackles.

And football has been the opposite experience from soccer.  Where soccer was all about just letting the stellar kids play, in football it's all about the team.  Ethan knows every single kids name and the coaches work hard to teach each kid to do their best and be a part of the team.  Ethan is loving it and so am I as a mother who thinks this is what kids sports should be about- less competition, more learning to work together and be a team.

They're actually really cute to watch.  Poor things are pretty lost still since there's so much to learn but they all seem to be having fun- 90+ degree heat and full pads and all.

We're not loving the heat so much when we end up on a field with no shade in sight.  Thank goodness for umbrellas and blankets that hang on fences.

And thank goodness for the ipad- says Isaac.

It's also been really fun to have Ethan on the same team with 2 of his primary classmates.  Their moms and siblings come hang out at practice too so we've gotten to have our own little hang out group.  #5 is Ethan's friend Will who is also a whole 51 pounds.

And in truth what's better on a sunny, hot September Saturday than hanging out watching little kid sports.  It's nice Taylor's parents and siblings live so close and come support.

Isla's pretty supportive too.  She's always concerned that she can't find him once he puts his helmet on.  He has to come over and show her he's still out there.

And then of course she wants to go join the team too and I have to race and grab her before she gets flattened on the field.

Ethan's team is black and white.

He's on the special teams as well as being a safety on the offense.  He's that little squatty one on the right of the ball.  It's pretty funny every time they go to kick off.  He lines up at the ball, takes 2 giant steps to the right and 2 giant steps back.  It's cute how precise he tries to be when finding the right position.

Isaac and Miles could care less about watching- they've off to play with all the other kids who are team siblings.

Isla's a good spectator though.  And she may be in it for the snacks as well.

And when we have home games, we play at our local park with the perfect hill for rolling down.

Isaac and Miles take full advantage of this free entertainment.

And we enjoy the better view from up above- also there's good shade.

And of course every game must end with hand shakes and treats.

Ethan is a happy boy and though I'm not sure he'll choose football next fall over soccer or something else, he's had a great time and I'm happy there's been no concussions or broken bones, but especially that he's enjoyed learning to be part of a team.