Caden has always been our family "gamer".
Time passes and things change.
Caden discovered football. Originally a sport to fill his time over the summer, along with baseball, it moved right into autumn. There were so many participants our Oakville team had to be split in two: the Titans and the Spartans.
If you listen to the parents, the general belief is the Titan coach poached all of the "good" players (aka hockey players) for the Titans team and left the rest on the Spartan team. I have to say, I really didn't notice. What I did notice was that the "superstars" or those pegged into certain positions were gone one day. That left plenty of opportunity for my son and his friends to grow. Not one of them had the burden of being developed into a pre-conceived position.
It's amazing what happens when children are left to play for fun without expectation.
Caden LOVES it. He plays offence and defence and often spends the whole game on the field. He executes exactly what the coach requests. Nothing creative or abstract for this lineman. This last game he played outside himself. He was having so much fun and executing plays he never would have imagined himself capable at the start of the season.
Photos from one of the parents:
The photos, below, I managed to take when the mums and I stopped jumping up and down while screaming our heads off: GO SPARTANS!!
Caden directing the action :)
Heart in my throat.
Our team, the visitors, up 24-22 with seconds - that were drawn out like hours - left. Nail biting time for sure!
The after game handshake.
Our SPARTANS won! Caden and his team are going to the CHAMPIONSHIP game on Saturday. No one would have believed it at the beginning of the season. These boys earned it for sure! To the parents, this game was the championship, but I know the boys are anxious for Saturday.
Win or lose, it will be Caden's last football game. He is not happy about it, but knows this to be the only option.
Nothing will take away the joy of this - his one golden football season.
