Witness

Having watched two Christian high schools face off in a junior varsity football game this afternoon, I played witness to a few things; some random, some poignant:

1. From the "Never seen that before" department- Upon being kicked through the uprights for an extra point, a football was launched over a wall and into someone's backyard. The ball was later recovered.

2. Again from the "Never seen that before" department- While approaching the ball on the way to kick off, the kicking team would consistently rush it as a group, feigning an onside kick, stop abruptly before kicking the ball, then regroup, lineup and kickoff in a regular fashion. On one of these fakes, the kicker got too close and accidentally tapped the ball. It fell over, and he picked it up. Play is dead, receiving team gets possession at the 35. Everyone's reaction on the sideline: "What just happened?"

3. Christian schools tend to be small. Very small. Brethren Christian has 400 students. (My graduating class had 850 students. School had 5,000.) As a result, the football team is very small. To the tune of 25 on varsity and 15 on JV. Do you know how ridiculous that is? NFL teams have 53 on their roster; college teams are in the 60's. 11 players play on the field at one time. That means more than half of the junior varsity had to play the ENTIRE GAME. BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL. A football team cannot be successful* in this situation, as was proven by the gameplay. It's impossible to excel (heck, not even excel but to just get by relatively well) when you can't put as much effort as possible into each play because you have to play every play of the entire game. Or when you are forced to play multiple positions (one player played safety, cornerback, running back, wide receiver and quarterback!) and cannot focus on the numerous duties that come with each one individually.

4. Come to think of it, this section is going to be ridiculously hypocritical, but that's okay because I'm the author and I am admitting it. Regardless of the outcome of a play, the opposing teams always helped each other up and patted each other on the back. What?!?! Um, excuse me, you play football. That's not how this works. You want to hang out and be best friends after the game? Sure, fine, whatever. You just clocked me in the mouth and put me on my back, but want to help me up and tell me I gave a good effort? Get the heck away from me! I'm not trying to hear anything from anyone, let alone the person who did it to me.

5. Best cheer ever: "Jesus!" Woot.


*successful = going well beyond the goal of winning the game, but also providing an environment that provides for a positive experience for everyone involved while also seeing each player continually improve with goal of reaching one's full potential.