Heart of a Champion

Christmas is upon us, and another year is ending. I sincerely hope each of you reading this has had a wonderful year and will enjoy this holiday season.

In our family, the most recent milestone was Kingston finishing his first season of tackle football. He turned 7 years old as the season got underway, and technically still had one year of eligibility left in flag football, but the coaches felt he was ready to make the jump to the 7-8-9-year-old league.

He started the season as a defensive back, but quickly moved to wide receiver on offense because he had learned all the routes on the route tree. One day at practice, he picked up the ball and threw it back to the coach. His coach asked him to throw it again. After another well-spiraled rope, the coach told him to go behind the center to run the offense as quarterback. I was stunned.

My little man has loved football since he was a baby, but I assumed this year would be spent getting used to taking hits and wearing the equipment, since he was one of the youngest players in the league. Now he was the starting QB.

Their team, the Devil Dogs, continued to improve each week. I watched nearly all of their practices through the week leading up to the games and became quite invested in the entire team. To see these young men grow as players and individuals was quite special. When one of them would make a big tackle, I would get just as excited as when my own son would make a big pass or run play.

As the playoffs began, the Devil Dogs were the lowest ranked team. Despite this, they beat their first opponent, who had a long-tenured head coach, 16-0. Kingston completed 4 of 5 passes in the game for about 75 yards. He also ran in a two point conversion. Then came the championship. It was a tough, down-in-the-dirt contest, but the Devil Dogs prevailed in double overtime 14-8. Kingston had his nose bloodied and took his fair share of big hits, but he kept going, as did his teammates. They never quit.

It was a memorable finish to a fantastic season. It’s one that I know these young men will remember for a long time, as will I.