It has been quite the most extraordinary honour to have witnessed from the sidelines the growth and development of a bunch of boys who have all played together in the same football team, some from aged 5 to 18. They are about to play their final game as a team and I know how sorry they are all going to be when it is over. Whether they win or lose. They have learnt many of life’s lessons through bonding with their team.
There was such tension last Sunday – if they had won their game they would have won the league. But they didn’t win. They drew. So now they have to win the final final game next Sunday. Their manager couldn’t sleep the night before, drank Ribena, instead of beer the night before. He has invested so much passion, time, effort and emotion into his years with these boys that they will no doubt be eternally grateful (and he is a very lucky man to have such an extraordinarily understanding and involved wife who hasn’t yet divorce him). We are all so grateful for everything that he has done and for all that everybody has done during all our years together. There will be grown men crying next week. For sure. We are all getting on a very big coach and doing a pub crawl on the way home. It will be messy.
Here is an action photo taken during last week’s game – something appears to be missing:-
My son had his nose broken during the game on Sunday. He was knocked down, but he got up again (isn’t that a song?) and carried on playing. The doctor told him he can’t play football for the moment and needs to see a specialist but I’m not going to be the one to stop him playing his last game. He’s mashed it now and it’s probably going to have to be re-broken anyway. There is no way in the world he wouldn’t be part of that last game – he has being playing football with the same team now for years. There are still about 8 members of the original team from way back when.
What I hadn’t appreciated before producing a son that turned out to be a team player, having come from a family who hadn’t heard of the word “sport” unless it involved darts (standing still with beer) or sailing (wobbling about with beer) was how much boys learn about life and about being mates on the football pitch. It’s so much more than exercise. They learn about sharing. About respect. About getting over arguments. About bravery. Commitment. Pain thresholds. Anger management issues. Humour. Solidarity. Blood. Sweat. Tears. Seriously it’s all there in it’s incredibly raw male form and it makes me proud to have been part of their journey and it makes me humble to think how much they have taught me about team work and men in general.
This was them all at half time getting a bollocking from the manager:-
I was sent a joke the other day about male friendship – perhaps the football pitch is where it all begins:-
Friendship among Women:
A woman didn’t come home one night. The next morning
she told her husband that she had slept over at a
friend’s house. The man called his wife’s 10 best
friends. None of them knew anything about it.
Friendship among Men:
A man didn’t come home one night. The next morning he
told his wife that he had slept over at a friend’s
house. The woman called her husband’s 10 best friends.
Eight confirmed that he had slept over, and two said he was still there.
So next Sunday will be huge. They will be playing their last ever game together. If they win they will be top of the Premier Elite Division. If they lose….well, they can’t lose because look how much they have gained. They will still have achieved more than they could ever have hoped for. Mostly about friendship and life and love, because when you see them off the pitch and in party mode (usually at my house behaving badly) they get on so well and as mothers of a fantastic group of boys none of us have ever been worried about letting them all out together – we know they will always look after each other.
Really it makes me unbelievably emotional just to think about it. I don’t doubt that they have made some of their lifelong friendships in amongst all that mud.
janelle
March 9, 2011heh he…liked the friendship jokes…xx j
Expat Mum
March 9, 2011Erm, where’s the football in the photo?
Family Affairs
March 9, 2011YES – WELL SPOTTED! I DON’T KNOW – think it went up – my son headed it x
aisling
March 10, 2011What a brilliant read: and if ever anyone doubted the value of team sports for boys (I think the same goes for girls, but I know not all agree?) then they should read this. Hope they win comfortably on Sunday, and as you say, “they can’t lose” – what a wonderful attitude! Hope your son manages to keep his nose out of the firing line!
Family Affairs
March 10, 2011Thanks Aisling – lets hope he stops doing all those headers for a minute x
Anna
March 10, 2011It really is something to behold. He is certainly hitting a high point there!
I’ve heard that it’s the mother who makes the most difference in a boy’s life. So, good job.
I have no idea how to raise a man, but trying anyway.
Family Affairs
March 10, 2011Neither have I but it’s fine because we all manage in the end x
Ezequiel Vollstedt
October 31, 2012Anger management takes some time to cure. the patient should really be willing to undergo treatment. ”
Have a look at the most recently released post on our new web blog
http://www.healthmedicinelab.com/itchy-eyes/