Last night, with the beautiful stretch of perfect autumn weather, clearly no longer with us, it seems we entered a new chapter in life.
With cold, blustery air hitting from the north and a chilling rain falling without letting up, we cheered our oldest grandson as he took the field at Ashland University stadium, under the lights.
Brooks is six. Not exactly ready for college play, but this was still a very big deal.
Our local YMCA hosts a flag football season, and this team took the name of the Colts, with practices starting in late summer. Our son-in-law agreed to help coach, and then in short order realized he was the head coach.
“Wow. What have I signed up for?” he said to me after the first practice. There was a lot to teach these young colts before they took the field every Saturday morning.
What I am most amazed by is how this group of little boys quickly turned into a cohesive, driven team. With each game, coming out of the huddle, these boys took their places and showed us some impressive plays. With both running drives and passing plays, they moved the football down the field.
They ended the season undefeated, and the excitement for the single-elimination championship tournament was brewing in a big way. On the last night of practice, Coach Josh told them he was most proud of their sportsmanship and teamwork and reminded them they will forever be teammates.
“A good team looks out for every single person on their team, no matter where you are, no matter how many years go by.” Then, he let each player hit him with a whipped cream pie. The laughter and joy was an uplifting way to end the practice season.
Over the weeks, each time I visited, Brooks asked me to throw the football with him. That boy will practice and create imaginary plays until forced to go back inside.
“It’s too dark, buddy. I can’t even see the ball,” I told him just a few nights ago. “Yes, you can. If you try hard, you can still see it,” he said to me with seriousness. “We gotta practice! I want to win that championship!”
So, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see the young teammates didn’t let the cold, rainy weather slow them down in tournament play. Jutting and juking, the Colts scored touchdowns and won their way to the next round. Parents and grandparents cheered from the bleachers, and then everyone retreated to vehicles to warm up between games.
The Colts made it to the final showdown, playing the Jaguars. The players were clearly cold, wet and numb, adding to the already enormous challenge facing them.
When the clock ran out on the championship game, the Colts were victorious. The tiny but mighty team of boys remained undefeated in their first season as football players.
More importantly, they remained good sportsmen throughout. What made their coach the happiest is that every single member of the team scored a touchdown at some point in the season, and praise in that moment was rallied by all.
As we walked to the parking lot at the end of a cold, grueling night, the beaming smiles of the Colts all around us, gripping tight their individual trophies, felt a whole lot like sunshine, lighting the way to more glory days ahead.
