Fall Sports - John

John had a very busy start to his Jr. High years. He had already been playing football for the last 2 years.  Starting this year he was able to go out for cross country.  Ah, yes, this mommy's running heart was jumping for joy when he wanted to be on the team.  This is the only year he is able to enjoy both sports at the same time.  JFL is not school sanctioned so he was able to take it all on.  Next year, John will have the grueling decision of which sport to continue in.  He will no longer be JFL, he will be playing for the Jr. High.  For now we are not pushing him one direction or the other.  Yes, this mommy runner wants him to continue with cross country, but it's not about me.  I only want him there if he wants to be there. Time will tell, there is no rush to decide right now.

John did  a great job of balancing all the demands.  Most days of the week he went straight from school to cross country practice then was picked up and taken straight to football, often eating supper in the car.  Academically he had no problem with the load.  I rarely heard complaints from him about it.  He was really enjoying it all.

JFL turned out to be a rather frustrating year.  Not that winning or losing is all that matters, but the last two years his team was top of the league.  This year they didn't win any of their games.  Such a bummer year for his final season on that team.  John still enjoys playing football and had many great plays himself.  He may be little, but boy can he ever take down some of those big....BIG boys.

It was bitter sweet to have this season end. We were ready to be done with all the practices and wanted our Sunday afternoons back.  It was all worth the 3 years when they announced that John won the Darrel Stranger Sportsmanship Award.  This honor is given to one player from each team that is picked by the coaches.  It's given based on the player's attitude, contribution to the team and how he acts toward his fellow teammates.   I guess we thought the award would be given to the kid who was more of a mvp, was on the field all the time, the quarterback, making all the plays.  John is a good player, but I'm not sure we'd say he's the above mentioned.  Somehow it's so much more of an honor to have him picked for this award than to be that anyway.  John has a lot of heart and character that goes way beyond being some big jock.  Actually many players on the team could have also qualified for this award.  We live in a great community with a lot of great people.  This award was just a cherry on top of his 3 years with JFL.

Cross Country seemed to be much more in his favor.  He had a few races where he really struggled, but for the most part he was at the top of the team.  He posted the fastest time for the entire season with a 13:31 (for 2 miles).  If he can run this time his first year of competition at the age of 11, it's crazy to imagine what he will be capable of as he progresses and matures.  He didn't start out running his best time, but built up over the season.  It was great to see him get faster and faster and push harder and harder.  Of course, this was right up my alley going to all those meets and cheering him on along with the other teams mates.  Yes, I was the screaming mom who was yelling things like "GO....GO....GO and FASTER!"  I can't help it, I get all excited when it comes to running.  It doesn't matter if it's my son or Ryan Hall.  I really get into the competition.  Overall, for John he ran in his own way and ran his best for him.  Believe it or not his time was not even close to qualifying him for state.  That didn't matter though, he ran his best and that is all we asked for and want from him.

Below is a slide show of some football (he is number 1) and cross country pictures.