Football

After playing flag football last year and LOVING it, Matthew was pleading with me to let him play tackle football this year. Being a former peds nurse and knowing how dangerous it could possibly be, I had a really hard time agreeing to it. But, the look in his eyes along with his love for the game convinced me to let him play.. just one year. He did spring training with the coaches and was so ready for the season to start in August. He did an amazing job in the "boot camp" prior to team practice starting and was ready for the season to begin.

Happy and tired boy after his first night of boot camp!

Due to the forest fires and the smoke that they brought into the city, practice was cancelled a lot. Matthew was awesome in trying to keep his conditioning practice us and worked out on my elliptical to make up for lost practice time. I was so proud of him!

First practice in full pads... Matthew and his buddy Owen were so excited!

First game tough man photos!! 

Smiles at the end of the game. He played with grit and toughness and we were so proud!

Grandma and Grand dad came to cheer him on. 

Sadly, his love for playing was overcome by anxiety. He really struggled with hitting others  (it seemed really mean to him, even if that really wasn't the truth) and really didn't like getting hit. His anxiety got so bad that we made the decision to stop playing. I could elaborate but let's just say it was one of the most difficult couple of weeks as we struggled to figure out how to help our sweet boy. We are thankful for amazing coaches who really helped and supported us as we navigated thru the muck, and they were in agreement of our decision. 

Thankfully there are flag football leagues for older kids so Matthew is so excited to be signed up to play flag again in the spring with two of his best friends. 

I am glad he got to try tackle football and that up until game time it had been an amazing experience. I am more thankful, tho, that my happy boy is "back" and that he feels like he was loved and supported in the midst of it all.