It would be unfair to say I want it more than they do, but I want it a lot.  I want it to keep going.  I want as many wins as they can get.  I want as many one more games as they have in them.  I’m just not ready for it to end.   Tonight is senior soccer night.   My son will play his last several soccer games in the next few weeks.  He isn’t going to play again. Not on a team like this.  He knows that.  I know that.  It’s almost over.

I hope he takes whatever games the next few weeks give him and focuses on everything he can get.  Goals.  Wins.  Playoffs and a title?  Big plays.  Fancy moves.  Teamwork.  The spotlight.  I hope he takes in every single second of every single minute and just enjoys it all.  And then when it does end, because it will – it will – I hope he and every player on his team realize they will be okay.  Because what I can already see is that the game has helped to prepare them for this moment.  The game has given them what they will need.

The game has given them strength. Physically of course, but more than that.  Mental and emotional strength.  They now understand determination and perseverance.  Focus.  Fortitude. Resiliency.  You can see it in each player as they rise time and time again after getting knocked down.  They have learned that  their belief in their own abilities is far greater than any disbelief anyone has ever or will ever show them.  They have learned that losses and disappointment can be unexpected steps to greater destinations.  They know hard work pays off.  Goals can be reached.

The game has given them a voice.  The ability to communicate.  To put eleven different individuals with different personalities and experiences and opinions on a single field who can come together to work as one.  Who can settle conflict. Who have learned to give more than take.  To listen more than talk.  Finding out my way is rarely the only way.  That’s an important one.  Who learn to speak out.  Advocate.  Question.  Make suggestions and give advice.  Accept and trust.  Believe in others.  Rely on others. Words are powerful.  Their voice is powerful for the compassion and kindness it can bring will be the strongest things they have to offer.

The game has given them a village.  The boys starting the game in a circle with their arms around each other.  Coaches anchoring from the sidelines.  Parents on their feet in the stands.  I hope my son feels that.  Those are his people.  They build him up. Encourage him. Pick him up.  Sometimes shut him up!   I hear it all.  I know he does too.  These boys are friends – some as close brothers.  Family.  Today it’s about games and playoffs and just teenage boys stuff.  But someday it will be about sharing college experiences.  It will be about dancing at each other’s weddings.  It will be about falling into step the moment they are together even after years have passed.  They will learn that when they are in need, these  friends will show up.  Quickly and without judgement.  With grace and understanding.  With love.  Family does that.  They don’t understand all of that yet, but they will.

This game has given them perspective.  Or at least it is starting to.  It’s an amazing game – fast and physical and beautiful when executed the way it should be.  A game I never thought I would know, but one I have grown to love.  But ultimately just a game.  Someday each of those boys will see the inside jokes before practice and the Halloween scrimmages and morning breakfasts and crazy group chats are the memories that will settle in their hearts.  Someday they will see the wins and the goals were not the prize.  The laughter and the smiles.  Endless pranks. Nicknames. Inside jokes.  The fun. Practices and downtime and everything in between those games.  That was what mattered.  That was the why.  They will look back and realize how lucky they were to have found themselves in an experience with that much goodness.  They will learn that the game made them good players tonight, but will help them become better men tomorrow.

They don’t have to know all of this tonight.  Tonight, they just enjoy.  But someday they too will realize just how much the game gave them.

As this chapter comes to an end, I find myself thankful for this game and for all of those the game brought into the lives of my son and myself. To the coaches along the way who put time and effort into my son and who saw ability and possibility within him, I thank you.  To the parents I hear cheer for him and encourage him and I know support him in ways so much bigger than this game, I thank you. To his friends who I know will be stepping into the next chapter with him, I couldn’t be more proud that you will be by his side.  I thank you.  To my son who has given me the chance to share his journey and take on one of my greatest roles, your “Soccer Mom”, I thank you.  You will all always have my gratitude, my appreciation, and my love.