Life’s Flavors ~Supporting Our Athletes By Allison Libby-Thesing
The stadium is full to bursting on both sides of the field, with home team fans and away team fans. The corridor is tight, with fans jostling to find their seats, make their way to the concession stand or pick up some home team swag. The sounds of the crowd can be heard all around, and the impact the players make when colliding can be heard as plays start and finish on the field. Football is a distinctly American sport, that brings people out four and sometimes five nights a week to cheer on their favorite team. From the home team to the visitors, those lights guide the way to a past time that begins early with flag football or pee wee football. Many players still do not start the game until about seventh grade when they begin playing in the school setting.
As parents we might question the need for our students to arrive at school before dawn, and since they are dependent upon us for rides, that means we are the ones to deliver and retrieve them from their sporting fun. But truly the real sacrifice comes from the coaches who put in 17-20 hour days during the sports season so that our children can learn, grow and develop in the sport they are just starting out to play. Facility use and space becomes an issue when you have over one hundred students wanting to try their hand at football. Not only are our coaches teaching our children to learn the rules of the game, it goes so much deeper than that. The coaches are helping to build strong leaders, good sportsmanship, mental skills and many others that go beyond the physical.
What we see on the field is the physical manifestation of the skills being taught to our young athletes. What we see at home and off the field is the mental and character skills our children are being taught. I know for us as a small East Texas school, our players and coaches will still pray before taking the field. Many people outside of our area, may not agree with prayer before play, but it’s one of the strengths our coaches and leaders bring to our children and community. Last week our community was rocked by threats from certain individuals. The actions of others affected our community and led many to make the choice to pull their students from an environment in which they should feel safe and secure. Our teachers, staff and coaches helped our students through this uncertainty with actions such as prayer to strengthen our community and bond our athletes in a time of stress and questionable actions of others.
Football is more than just players hitting other players for the fun of it. It builds lifelong friendships, understanding and leadership that players might not find elsewhere in their schooling or relationships outside of sporting activities. Coaches and players alike are learning right next to each other when first starting out in a new game. The players are learning to play their position, and how it affects the team as a whole. The coaches are learning their players and how to best position their new charges to maximize their budding talents.
Cheer on those players who are just starting out, watch from the stands and understand that everyone is working hard to develop and grow in a new environment. Those students who have never played organized sports before, may grow at a different rate than those who have. It is the same for those who in particular have played organized football in some fashion. Each position has a job to accomplish while on the field and each player has to learn what that is in reference to what they play. Mistakes will be made by all but the best thing to remember is that they are all learning and growing together. We hope that you will continue to support our Wildcats on and off the field during the season. Without the support from members in our community and beyond, fewer people would fill the stands, and our students would suffer. Head on out this week to watch Volleyball, Tennis, Football and the Band, each group at any age level has students put in the effort and value our cheers.
By Allison Libby-Thesing
