How I became a "football mom"

He was 3 years old when he started to live and breathe Holton Wildcat Football. Just a little boy, going to every home football game with his "Pa", loving every minute of it. My oldest child, my first baby, part of my soul.
I live and breathe to protect him, to keep him safe (as most mom's do). He kept attending all of those home games, becoming part of the "fan club" with his Pa,  he never lost his love for the game, or for his team and as soon as he was old enough, he started playing.
Flag football at first, with this worried mom. He would try and try, with so much heart you could feel it. Not really excelling at the sport, but loving every minute of it, lifting his team, encouraging them all to be their best.

In Middle School he started weights training, practices, two - a -days, team conditioning, commitment drill.....and in the fall of his 7th grade year, he put on his first "Holton Wildcats" football jersey. I know some people think it's "hard core", I know some think it is pushing them too far. I will tell you football, and my sons amazing team of athletes and coaches gives my son 6 months of the year that he feels "normal".
It's hard to watch sometimes, and I am TERRIFIED when they send him out on the field..... he never cares about playing time, or positions. He cares about his team, and being part of something. He cares that he is "one of the guys", he cares that he is included. He steps onto that football field and he is just another football player, he's not "different" or "special", he is a Wildcat.
I have cried at more football games than I ever thought possible. I have cried when they announce his name at the start of a game, or when I watch him get so worked up on the sidelines. I have cried when he gets sent into a game and the crowd stands up to cheer for him, and when I hear the announcers talk about his heart and LOVE of his team. I have cried when I watch boys on the field go out of their way to make sure he stays safe.

Tonight marks the start of the official "football season" here in Holton, with a football "scrimmage"....my son will be starting his Junior year as a Wildcat Football Player, they will announce his name as he runs out onto the field with the rest of his team. After the scrimmage, women (moms) will be allowed their one visit per year......into the football locker room, and we all go. We will look around at this team of boys that we have watched grow into men, and our hearts will swell with pride (I won't lie, I cry at this too)...not just for our own sons, but for all of them, for who this "team" that they all hold so dear is helping them to become. I'll tell you a secret though (not too much of a secret if you know me well).......I don't even like football! What I love is what football MEANS to my child, what "Wilcat Pride" does to his heart.
"Some people think football is a matter of life and death, I assure you, it's much more important than that." ~Bill Shankley