This post is quite aways past due, but I couldn't miss sharing some of Chase's football pictures. This is his first year playing football after a difficult decision to quit his competition soccer team. Tryouts began at the end of July with about 200 8-9 year olds. It was pandemonium, to say the least.
Here's Chase on his first day of tryouts. Helmets only. He was nervous, but in traditional Chase style, also overly confident. He looks so little to me with that huge helmet on.
Second day of tryouts. Full pads and close to 100 degrees.
Tryouts lasted a full week and included weight and height checks, timed runs, one on one tackling and all kinds of other crazy football things. The boys' weight is a major issue in our football league. On the official weigh-in day you have to weigh 76 pounds or less or you are called an "X man" and you have to play on the line the entire season. Before the official weigh-in Chase was consistently weighing in at 80 pounds. As tryouts came to a close one of the coaches for the top team pulled me aside and told me that he wanted Chase on his team, but the weight was an issue. Does this look like a kid with weight issues? He is skinny, even at his top weight. He carries it all in his height and maybe a little in his legs, but he's certainly not lineman material, a fact that he would remind me of several times over the next few weeks.
So here is where we embark on what was possibly the worst 3 weeks of my life. Chase was chosen for the Gremlins A-1 team, which was amazing. He exceeded our expecations (we had none) and made the best team in his age group. He was definitely wanted on offense for his hands, height and speed. This meant that 4 pounds had to come off, one way or another. Otherwise he would be getting hit by 120 pound lineman all season long. Ugh.
He cut calories, cut out all desserts and carbs and was practicing football about 15 hours a week in hot, hot weather.
How much weight do you think he lost? That's right, almost none. Because he had nothing to lose. Having Chase on a diet goes against every motherly instinct I have. When I look at him I see a skinny kid who needs to eat and eat just to keep up with his metabolism. But to let him do that would be to sentence him to 4 months of hell. So we continued to diet. I told him I would only eat what he could eat, which meant I was locking myself in the pantry and sneaking homemade rolls when he wasn't looking. I'm pregnant. There's no way I was actually going on a diet with him.
Twenty-fours hours before the official weigh-in Chase was still 2 pounds overweight. He had been eating well below 1000 calories a day and still nothing was happening. He was beyond anxious and so was I. I was so worried about his health and even more worried about all of those huge lineman on the opposing teams who would absolutely crush him.
There was only one option left. I had been fighting it and telling myself I would never put my 9 year old through that. But that's where we were. Hit the steam room or be an X man for the rest of the season. We chose steam room. Chase went 24 hours without eating and spent about 6 sessions in a steam room. It was agonizing for all of us. He even had to miss a day of school because he was too hungry and weak to go. The day of the weigh-in finally arrived and we held our breath as he stepped on the official scale with all of the Ute Conference football league breathing down his neck.
76 on the money. You're free to go. Play offense. Be happy. I truly almost cried. Nothing is worse than putting a skinny kid on a diet. Chase has more mental toughness than 10 adults put together. He set a goal, never - okay rarely - complained, and achieved what he set out to do. I could not have been more proud of him if he had just won the Super Bowl.
Could that skinny little kid actually become a football player? Oh yeah.
We love #66
The 2011 Gremlins A-1 Football Team
Chase is on the back row, far right.
These are two of the most patient, loyal fans I've ever known. They love going to Chase's practices and cheering him on. They've made some cute little friends on the sidelines and never complain. Love them.
Practice attire until the real uniforms came in.
These are pictures from his first game. He was chosen to be a team captain.
Chase plays tight end and this run came off one of his best plays, the tight end sweep.
He ran it all the way for a touchdown. The funny part is that he chose to dive into the endzone. No one was reaching for him, but he thought it would look cool. And it did.
After he scored he had his own little celebration in the endzone. It was so cute. He was definitely riding high from that one!
Football is crazy. It requires a ton of time and effort from both the parents and the players. But it's been so fun watching Chase fall in love with this sport. He's always bruised up and sore, but he's having a blast. Which means we are too!
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