My Son's "Rudy" Moment

I strongly suggest you see the movie "Rudy" if you haven't already. It's a very inspirational movie and is based on a true story. It's about a young boy whose life-long dream is to play football for the Irish or Notre Dame. He's short and not the best player, but his strong will to overcome his weaknesses help him to make his dream come true. Anyways, the reason I call this entry "My Son's Rudy Moment" is because I witnessed something in him that I saw in Rudy and I couldn't be more proud of him.

My oldest has never been great at sports. He's very smart and has always been good at computer games and such, but sports has never been his "thing". We tried baseball a couple years and he sat on the bench and hated every moment of it. When he was out on the field he would just observe the insects on the grass or look at the clouds in the sky. He had trouble paying attention to the game and since the ball rarely got hit his direction, it was boring for him. We gave up after about three years of baseball. It wasn't worth the time and effort on OUR part getting him to practices and even coaching one year.

A few years ago we tried soccer through the local YMCA. Again, we saw the same thing happen. He sat on the bench and rarely got to play. The coach did not even give him a chance. It was sad going to the games and seeing him waiting in anticipation to play. As a matter of fact, I vividly remember telling him to be more outspoken and ask the coach to let him play. It was ridiculous!! However, the coach just ignored him and put him the minimum amount of time required. After that year I decided that perhaps I needed to stop pushing sports on him. However, deep in my heart I knew that boys NEED sports. They need it for many reasons. First, they need it to learn how to work as a team. Secondly, they need it to use up some of that energy. The last reason I feel boys need sports is because it builds character and self-esteem. It's important for a child to learn what it feels like to bust your butt and lose a game as well as winning. That is something that you can not learn any other way.

Well... this year, we decided to try out soccer once more. I love the idea of indoor soccer since I hate the heat and summers in Alabama are unbearable! I took him to his first practice and I noticed that the coach was impressed with his size. He's about a head taller than his teammates. I watched them practice and I could tell that some of the boys had been playing for a long time. In the back of my mind I was dreading it because I just knew that he would probably be sitting on the bench for most of that first game for sure! Their first game was the following day and so that meant they only had one practice under their belt. I watched the kids go out into the field and did not see my son. My first thought was, "I guess they will put him in next quarter." However, I was shocked when my son came out and stood by the goal. The assistant coach began to kick balls at him and did a little "warm-up" with him right before the game started. I have to admit that I was a bit anxious about this. He had NEVER played goalie before and I thought it was a bit cruel to put him in first quarter. He also had a rather large wound on his knee that had not scabbed over yet and so was a bit tender. I bought some really expensive bandages to ensure that he was protected. All I could do was pray that the ball would not make it his way.

The whistle blew and the game started. The other team had some very seasoned players and the ball was near the goal for the majority of that first quarter. Every time they kicked the ball towards the goal my heart would skip a beat. I would hold my breath and sometimes close my eyes. My son blocked each and every one of them! He got aggressive and would reach out and grab the ball and throw it past the halfway mark on the field. I was so impressed and so were the other parents. They cheered and clapped for him. Unfortunately, his bandages on his knee kept falling off and so the other team got a couple points... once while the assistant coach attempted to help him put another band-aid on and then another time while my son was attempting to put it back on his knee after it had fallen off onto the ground. After the second quarter the coach replaced him with his second pick. Unfortunately, the final score ended up being 14-0 and we lost. I told my son that he should be extremely proud to know that he did such a good job and they were only able to get a couple points while he was the goalie.

The next game was just a few days later. The coach had called me and told me that he saw great potential in my son and that he was going to put him as goalie again. He was surprised when I told him that he had not played goalie before and that to be honest he had not much playing time since the previous coach kept him on the bench most of the season. He told me that he had seen great improvement already from the first practice until the first game. I had seen a change in his self-confidence for sure. It was a neat thing to see. We played the same team we had played in the first game and so my expectations were kind of low. I figured if we scored anything that was good for our team. My son did a great job once again for two quarters, and this time we figured out how to bandage his knee properly so that wasn't an issue. When it came time for him to play out in the field I saw him make some moves that totally blew me away. He was actually aggressive and I had NEVER seen that side of him before in ANY sport. He ran the ball, passed it to one of his teammates, and then got right by the goal and when the ball came his way he kicked the ball into the goal! Everyone cheered and one of the parents turned to me and said, "That's what I call goalie's revenge!" He looked over at me and gave me a smile and I smiled back. That moment was totally priceless! When the quarter ended he got "high-fives" and praise from all the team and coaches.

The final score was 2-6 and our team lost. However, it was definitely an improvement from the first game and we showed the other team that we are not going to give in that easily. After the game, the coach explained to us that there was some "unsportsmanlike" conduct displayed by the other team after the game and that just showed that we got to them. I really like this coach and I love the fact that he gives ALL the players a chance to shine. He has an optimistic attitude and it rubs off onto the kids. We need more of that in the world today.
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When you feel like giving up....
DON'T!!!
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