Kids and sports. The two of them go together like peanut butter and jelly. Being part of an organized sport is an activity our family has been involved in since the summer 1993: Dustin was just about to turn 4 years old. We were living on Tustin Marine Corps Air Station in California and the Youth Services on base had a soccer program for kids his age. We eagerly signed him up, bought him a soccer ball and a pair of cleats, I volunteered to be team mom and there was no turning back. He took to that ball like a fish in water. For the next 14 years we watched him play. He played for teams on Marine bases, community recreation teams and travel teams. While living overseas he played on his school teams in Germany and in Ukraine. When we moved back, he played for his high school team. We watched him play in extreme heat, bitter cold and pouring rain. Chris and I loved watching him play.
Then there was Ryley. He tried his hand in soccer and even t-ball, but we could tell his heart wasn't in it as Dustin's was. Ryley would rather would have been picking up rocks in the outfield or dandelions on the soccer field than pay attention to what was going on in the game. When Dustin walked off of the soccer field for the last time in high school, both Chris and I looked at each other and felt that it was the last time we would see one of our boys sporting a team uniform playing in an organized sport. Ryley was at an age where all he cared about was skateboarding and his guitar.
He was going into the 8th grade when he came to us and said he'd like to try to play lacrosse.
Lacrosse? What is lacrosse? We were a soccer family. We travel to soccer games. We watch football on TV and we cheer on the Indians during baseball season. We thought lacrosse was a car by Buick. This is a sport that was foreign to us. How could we (by "we" I mean Chris) coach him in a sport we know nothing about? After a few phone calls, it turned out that Stafford was just starting a youth league. I voiced my concerns to the coach–Ryley knows nothing about this sport and didn't know if he would stick with it. He said most kids that start out don't know a thing about it. But he also gave us this warning: Once they pick up a stick, they are addicted and will not put it down. And he was right.
Ryley took to lacrosse just like Dustin took to soccer. He had that stick in his hand constantly. He'd hit the ball against the garage, he and his friends would play catch in the front yard, the back yard and the field behind our house. He was totally addicted. Ryley was on the city recreation team the first year he played, played on the JV high school team when he was a freshman and was on the Varsity high school team his sophomore, junior and senior years. He's been one of the co-captains on the team his junior and senior years and had an Honorable Mention to the All-District Lacrosse team last year. This year he was named to First Team All-District in Lacrosse. He put his heart and soul in this game.
For 5+ years, we have loved watching him play this game. And now it is over. The Colonial Forge Eagles lost their game last night in district playoffs and we watched him walk off the field for the last time in his school uniform. It has been such a fun ride. For those parents who may think of taking the kids to practice, washing uniforms, making sure you have snacks for the team, watching a game in the rain as a chore–savor it. It goes so fast. Too fast. Just enjoy it and take lots of pictures.
I took hundreds of photos of Ryley this season.Here are a few of my favorites:
