Thursday, August 20, 2009

first scrimmage

Last night was Evan's first scrimmage against another team. It was all very exicting, and the entire day before we went was spent preparing for the fun that was to come.
What came was an exercise in patience, both for Evan and for me.
Ev is on the freshman team, of which there are 2 parts. The Orange Crush, and the Black Defense. The OC is made of up of the younger guys, who are brand brand new to football. The BD is the older, second season freshman (because of where their birthdays fall, they couldn't move up to JV)
Since Ev is new to the team, he falls into the crack in between-too old for the OC, not trained enough for steady play in the BD. So he waits. And watches. And dies to play.
At first, I was about to throw a major tantrum because they were not putting him in. At all. 3 plays out of 20. We are here to support his play? I was seething.
During a water break, he was nearby, so I asked him. "Why aren't you playing?"
And his answer was "I have to earn my way in, Mom".
It killed me a bit. He has to prove himself to play. He has to play to prove himself.

He is #27, with the black scrunched down socks. And the tight jersey.


OMG! Do you see him taking this hit??

I have to learn to let go of my pre-conceieved notions of fairness and just let it be. Which is incredibly hard. I know he is thrilled to play. I know he loves it. And I want him to earn it. I just wish it wasn't so hard.
I would love to see him get his hands on the ball. It would be so worth it.

1 comment:

Jen on the Edge said...

I feel your pain. I don't know how you can watch so patiently and hope that he'll get to play.

Last year, Grace's soccer coach didn't play her very much at all during one of the early games of the season. Like, nowhere nearly as much as most of her other teammates.

When we got home, I looked at Coach Pete and told him if he didn't play his daughter more the next week, there would be dire consequences for him. The next week, he did a better job of making things more fair.