A Lesson from the Sidelines

A few weeks ago, River Valley hosted a scrimmage at the high school for the Junior Falcon football teams. Our day began bright and early with my nephew’s games.

This was the first time the boys were sporting this year’s game jerseys and they looked absolutely adorable! The younger kids played their games on the practice fields that were blocked off and measured a little shorter than half of an actual football field. With parents lined up in lawn chairs surrounding the “mini fields” the teams began to play and parents began to cheer (or in the case of my brother…shout).

While Landon’s team had a break between games, I sat in my chair and observed two of the other teams playing in front of me (I am, after all an avid people watcher…). Whenever I’ve seen this (unnamed) team play this year, my eyes are fixated on this one particular coach, and it’s NOT because he’s a handsome lad! He’s crazy. He yells at the kids like they’re 18 years old and not 6. He jumps up and down on the field like he’s slammed more than one energy drink. When they play…they play to win at all costs. These kids are 6 years old!!! I don’t know if he thinks that every game is the Super Bowl or what, but he’s one of the most aggressive people I’ve ever seen. And that’s NOT to compliment him… He intimidates me, so I can’t even begin to imagine how these poor little boys feel when they’re on the same field with him.

Anyway, the scrimmages are played with 10 minutes of offense and then 10 minutes of defense. At this particular moment, the (unnamed) team was on offense. I believe they had just scored and were on their way back to the opposite side of the field to start another play when I noticed this little guy from the other team lying on the field, flat on his back. A few of his coaches walked over and stood above him. While this was going on, “crazy coach” was corralling his boys to line up for the play. There seemed to be more interest in the clock running down and running out of time than there was in stopping for a moment to check on the welfare of this boy.

Typically in a game, each player is taught that when there is an injury, regardless of whose team it is, everything stops and every player takes a knee. I was disappointed and disheartened in how this incident played out.

Until…

The little boy got to his feet and began to walk off the field. As he walked within 20 feet of the sidelines, one of his teammates walked out to meet him, placed his arm around his shoulder, and walked with him the rest of the way.

I was so touched with this little boy’s concern and sensitivity to help his friend that I almost cried. To me, that’s what life is all about. Interacting. Helping one another. Having compassion for those in need. Extending mercy and grace to someone who may have never received it otherwise.

As well as almost crying, I really wanted to walk up to the crazy coach, point my finger directly in his face and sternly say “shame on you.” These boys are at a very impressionable age and sometimes I wonder how some people can’t seem to grasp the concept that if we don’t help encourage and uplift them, we’re setting them up for a greater failure in life than if they simply lose a game…

Where are our priorities as adults…as leaders to the generations behind us? No wonder this world has gone crazy and values and morals are so far out of whack.

The little boy that walked out on the football field could have taught the crazy coach a very important lesson, had he been paying attention to the bigger picture rather than the sound of the buzzer.

This little boy taught me a lesson that day. To become more aware of those who surround me. To try and be an encouragement, not merely to the people I know, but to random strangers as well. There’s an old saying that goes something like this: People pay attention to the way we act more than the words we speak. And his actions spoke volumes to me…