The Story Behind Football

Justice plays just about every conventional sport offered.  He consistently plays basketball, soccer, tackle football, and has also run track, played baseball and plans to be on the swim team next year.  He is an extremely athletic kid and does pretty well in almost every sport he plays.  Clearly he inherited his athleticism from The Coach, considering I'm the most non-athletic person in the entire universe.  I watch this boy in awe sometimes, wondering if he knows how blessed he truly is to have been given the gifts that he has.  What I wouldn't give to be able to have just a tenth of his abilities.

While he has pretty much hopped out there on the court or field of nearly every sport and done well, he struggles with football.   In the South, youth football is absolutely ridiculous.  It's important, relevant, and can really make a difference in a young boy's life if they and the parents commit to it 100%.  The coaches yell loudly and often, the boys run and exercise until they sometimes puke, and they practice five days per week, two hours per day.  And it's hot outside.  Really hot.  Tackle football is not a "It doesn't matter whether we win or lose, it's whether you have fun" sort of game.  It's about winning.  Nobody runs till they puke and practices 10 hours per week in the southern heat to lose.  While that's not the typical mentality of this day and age, it is what it is, and it is football.  

We signed Justice up for football at the recommendation of his psychiatrist.  She said that football is a great sport to help boys with ADHD learn to control their actions and also helps them learn to focus.  She cautioned me that it would be a long road and a hard one, but to keep him at it for an entire season and see whether it made difference.  I was hesitant, and so was The Coach.  We didn't feel he was a "football" kind of kid, and I would have much preferred to keep him on the soccer field than have him get his brains crushed on a football field.  But we took her advice and signed him up.  This was a very difficult time for The Coach because we were here living in Tennessee and the Navy had transferred him to Virginia and he was unable to help Justice prepare for what was about to happen to him.  Conditioning Camp starts in mid-summer,and football normally ends at the end of October or even end of November depending on the playoffs.  It's a HUGE commitment.  

Justice showed up for his first conditioning camp at age 7 and was NOT impressed.  He cried nearly the whole time we were there, and was miserable.  I was on my way out to the parking lot after his first day at camp when the coach (not The Coach, just the coach) pulled me aside and asked me to bring him back the next day.  He must have seen the "you must be insane" look on my face, because he proceeded to explain to me that he saw a lot of promise and a "natural gift" in Justice, even though he was blowing snot and crying the entire morning.  I told him I'd think about it (I wasn't going to think about it, he was NOT going back) and we went home.  Justice was so upset on the way home that he didn't even want to talk about it so we didn't.  I figured that was it for his illustrious football career.

The next afternoon, he wordlessly came into the kitchen dressed for camp and said "let's go" with a look on his face like he was walking the death walk.  We talked about it for a while and he said "I'm not a quitter, let's do this" and off we went.  Each day got a little easier and he had the best coaches a little kid could ask for.  They worked with him every day and every day he got a little better.  He proceeded to cry nearly every single day on the way home from practice, and while you might be wondering what the heck I was thinking putting him through this, it wasn't ME.  It was HIM.  He wanted this very badly, and he worked so hard.  This was so much harder on me emotionally than I possibly could have imagined.  I hated seeing him so upset, and I was struggling myself.  Justice has been an emotional mess from the day he was born.   He slept so badly that while I was in the hospital after having him, the nurse brought him to me and said "He can't stay in the nursery, he won't stop crying and I have too many other babies to take care of".  And honestly, he didn't start sleeping through the night until he was diagnosed with a sleep disorder at age 7.  And he still hasn't stopped crying.  All that plus his ADHD and anxiety, and he was a HUGE Mama's Boy.  I mean I really babied this kid.  He was a sensitive mess.  Football meant I had to let go and let him grow up and not be my little baby anymore.  If you've raised a kid with anxiety or any other issues that cries all the time, it's hard to see him get his brains tossed around on a football field.  So I had some work to do myself.  It was good for me that The Coach was not here during his first season, because it forced me to let go.  

Pictures from his first season

That's him, in the middle with his eyes closed about to tackle the daylights out of the kid with the ball.  He has learned he must keep his eyes open when he tackles or either he will miss the tackle or get hurt.

So cute, and so little.  The helmet must have weighed more than he did at that age.  He didn't outgrow that first helmet until this season.

He got hurt plenty of times, and each time he went down he got up a little quicker. 

He played Safety, Running Back and was also the Kicker for his first two seasons.

This is a picture of him in the huddle of the last game, crying of course because they lost and the season was over.  (Sorry, I tried cropping the guy's pants out of the photo but the quality of the picture isn't good enough and it looked awful).  

This is my favorite picture of any I've ever taken.   I love the mohawk, the mud, and he's just so cute.

After the season was over, he was selected to participate in the All-Star game, and they won first place!

I cannot find any pictures from the second season, anywhere.  I am so disappointed.  

Pictures from the third season

Justice got tougher and tougher after every game.  He stopped crying after practices (mostly) and was able to do exactly what the psychiatrist said he would.  Focus. 

You have to love eye black.  

Notice the brace... Justice fractured his arm at the beginning of the season, but didn't miss a game.

Trying to look tough.  Those are the skinniest legs I've ever seen.

The psychiatrist was spot-on about football.  Over the years he has learned to focus, and he has become much stronger and mentally tougher than I ever thought possible.  The skills he has learned on the football field reach into his daily life and I'm so glad that coach pulled me aside and asked me to bring him back.  While I don't expect that he will continue to play football as the years pass, I am very glad that he recognizes how much it has helped him learn to focus and concentrate.

We are in pre-season football right now for his fourth season, and he's working hard.  I'm so proud of him, and the progress he's made since the first time he stepped out on the field.  I look forward to what this season will bring him.  He has stepped up to the next age group and has a new group of coaches and they are wonderful.  I am especially thankful for those men that volunteer this ridiculous amount of time to help my son grow.