Football Frenzy

We are about to close out Jack's first official football season, and I'm just now getting around to posting about it. Jack is LOVING football. He's found his niche and really enjoys that he's "the best" (not really but at his particular position, he is pretty darn good!). The league is 5 on 5, flag football and Jack is in the 5-6 yr old division. He is one of the youngest and one of the smallest on his team. None of that has slowed him down! The coaches try to let the kids rotate positions so every one gets a turn at every thing but since about Game 2 Jack has played almost strictly defense. Once or twice he's lined up at center but that didn't go so well. Now he's almost exclusively put in as a safety (sometimes they'll line him up at defensive tackle). He's great at getting moving as soon as the ball is snapped and usually has his timing just right so that he doesn't cross the line of scrimmage until the ball has been handed off (one of the rules...we don't understand it either). So far he's gotten at least two "tackles" (sacks on the QB) each game.

The best game was 2 weeks ago -- the other team was confident they were going to win. Most of their players were a head taller than most of ours. The coaches strutted like peacocks. Then, skipping on to the field (yeah I said skipping...like a little girl) came Jack. There is absolutely NOTHING about him that's intimidating -- until the ball is put into place. Then he starts fidgeting, his feet can't stop moving, his hands are twitching and he's chewing on his mouth-guard with what seems like the intention to actually swallow it. A few plays in a row of having their QB sacked by the smallest kid on the field and the coaches of this particular team began to quickly and rather frantically re-think their game plan. I found it HILARIOUS!!

Last week's game was tough. The coaches had prepared in advance and had guards on either side of the QB to protect him. Jack was really frustrated and had a hard time finding his rhythm. He also was really dejected that he hadn't gotten any flags. Of course his coaches kept telling the "defense" that they were missing flags and needed to work harder. Jack took it all very personally. It was a learning moment for him. He managed to pull it together and had a great second half (and still got his two sacks!).

Here are some pictures of Jack in action. I literally have dozens more but these are my favorites so far!

snatching that flag before the kid even crossed the line of scrimmage

lined up and ready to go

quick direction change -- I think it looks like he's dancing!