2009 Wrap Up 2

The end of a season is similar to death. It happens so fast and without very much warning and then all of a sudden it is over. No work on Sunday, no film Monday morning, no practice, no planning. It is just over. The week after football season is the week I dislike the most for the entire year. This week does not fit into the routine at all.

Our final game tradition is great in my opinion. It provides closure and an opportunity to say thank you and to pass the torch. Underclassmen thank the seniors, seniors give encouragement, and coaches, players, fans and family have a chance to say goodbye to a football player. To describe it as emotional would be a very bad understatement. Young men are saying goodbye to something that they have poured years of their short lives in to. It is an ending of a chapter of their life and transition into their next phase of life. I am grateful to be able to share these moments with them.

Some of your sons cry. Some of them bawl. Some hugs last longer than others. Some coaches share special words and give encouragement and guidance for the future. Some laugh and crack jokes. Parents and siblings hold on longer and linger in the hall way. Even at 1:30 in the morning it is tough for them to walk out the door and leave football behind. These emotions and tears remind me that we teach more than just football here. We are teaching life to these boys and that is our main goal. Football teams will come and go. The real success comes in the future years when your sons use the lessons from our football program to make decisions. To have Courage, or to be Humble. To Believe, to Love, to Unite and to Encourage. To have Empathy. To Overcome Adversity. To Finish what is difficult. To Win, to have Passion, to Overachieve. We wanted your sons to be great at football and to have a positive experience in athletics. But more important to us is that your sons become strong young men, who become faithful husbands and loving fathers. Those are the successes that we are working toward. We do what we do in football to help raise your sons to be the best they can be. It is our privilege to do this and we are grateful for the opportunity.

Go Blue!

Kevin Atkinson