Last Spring when Austin came home with a football sign-up flyer, you would have thought he'd found the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket, he was so excited! I couldn't deny him the opportunity to give it a try, so we signed him up. The season began in early August with a very demanding schedule. Practices were held Monday through Friday from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. This schedule remained in effect practically the whole season. Austin's team was comprised of 5th & 6th graders and surprisingly he wasn't the only one on the team new to the sport. Overall the season was good. Austin has decided, however, that football is not his favorite and next year he wants to go back to soccer. Here is a breakdown of the Pros & Cons I felt about the season:
Pros:
- Football is awesome as far as daily exercise goes.
- The weather throughout the season was incredible. I think it rained only 2 games the entire season.
- The games are definitely fun to watch.
- Spencer volunteered his time to be an Assistant Coach, which I think helped keep Austin accountable.
- Football introduced Austin into a whole new group of kids.
Cons:
- I felt like it was way too demanding on time for kids his age.
- Our team plays in a League that is WAY too advanced for us, therefore, our players were getting injured left and right.
- I felt that the Coach played "favorites" instead of giving all kids a fair shake. He played the kids who were his best. The problem I have with that is the fact that if you don't play all of the kids you leave them with little to no incentive to return next season. Besides that, we lost every game, except 1, so why not give everyone play time? We're bound to lose anyway!
- Although I had a good time this season, I feel like football is an exclusive club. Some parents came across as snobby, and it felt like some of the players have an 'I am better than you attitude'. That alone doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth, but, I don't know if I like my kids growing up surrounded by that kind of attitude.
Geez, after reading my thoughts above it sounds like I am against football, I am not! It was a good learning experience for Austin and Cameron is convinced that he wants to play too. I do think that we'll wait till Cameron is quite a bit older though before we allow him to play. And finally, I loved how handsome my son looked all geared up on the field. I am proud of his effort! He didn't give up and he played his little heart out, even though it was hard work. Good job, Austin!
That IS an intense schedule! Conner practices for swim team 3 days a week and we can barely manage that! It sounds like he had fun though, and he was able to see if football is really the sport for him. Holy cow - those uniforms are so professional looking! He looks great!
ReplyDeleteWow that is a busy schedule. I have to tell you that Joseph was BUMMED when he found out that Austin wasn't going to play soccer with him this year. I told him to be hopeful that he must be testing out football. He will be excited to hear that Austin is returning to soccer. I love that our children have this opportunity to test out sports and do what they want to do.
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