This is an ongoing series by a bunch of cool Moms and Dads called Fatherhood Friday. Check out Dad Blogs for more details and more great reading.
As I mentioned in my last post, last Saturday was the Upward Flag Football clinic. However, tonight was my first practice as head football coach for football. I have coached Upward basketball for several years, but my schedule has taken me away from it for the last two. I love football just as much, so I thought I would try my hand at this.
Like most, I am an “armchair quarterback”. I haven’t played competitively since my teens and I chose to focus my
energies elsewhere (i.e. life) as I got older. Needless to say, I was somewhat apprehensive to be responsible for teaching eight 3rd/4th grade boys the game of pigskins. What if some soccer mom gets in my face because she thinks her baby isn’t getting enough playing time? Last thing I need is another armchair quarterback dad telling me how I should coach the team as he continues to throw down his third hotdog with extra chili and cheese.
The Boy is on my team. He is so excited because this is his first run at organized football. Sure, there was that time when he was four, but we pretend that season never occurred.
He has a ton of questions, suggestions, and observations that he wants to share. I wasn’t trying to blow him off, but I needed to get ready. So I tried to answer his questions and read the coach’s manual.
“Daddy, who’s gonna be the quarterback?” -I don’t know, yet.
“Daddy, what’s the name of our team?”-Ravens
“Daddy, who’s on my team?-Here’s the roster. Read it.
“Daddy…Daddy…Daddy?”
So we got to field extra early today. I wanted to ensure that I was ready for the boys and their parents when they arrived. However, I was still somewhat tense. All of that changed when the boys arrived.
You see, as I was stressing out about getting into coaching again, I forgot one thing…boys will be boys. They just want to play. And so we did. We ran drills, sprints, and worked on basic passing skills. As a Christian league, we also do devotionals with the kids. Upward is a ministry and the main purpose is not only to win games, but to win hearts.
Once properly focused, Mr. Man transformed into “Mr. Coach”.
Game on!
Mr. Man
