Memory
...thlete must have been when he was seven. While kicking the ball around I could see that he had a special gift. I promised myself that I would stay involved in this area of his life by any means necessary. The way I felt most capable of doing this was by being a coach on his league teams. Even though I was not an athlete, I still had a good understanding of the game and the necessary skills. The first team I coached was in baseball when he was only in second grade. Being a coach with your son on the team was always a very tough job to deal with. On the one hand as a father, you want your son to be the best and do the most, and on the other hand, you cannot look like you are favoring your child. The way I dealt with this was by picking on him to show I was not going easy on him, but I am sure he did not appreciate that. The sport that both of us enjoyed the most was definitely soccer. We always had our most success in that area as well. The magical year was when he was in fourth grade, making it his first season with players significantly older that him. This being a challenge was something he eagerly tackled with a smile on his face. I always pushed him to give 110% and he quickly began to gain the respect of his peers. By the time the playoffs came around we were in first place and I was on cloud nine. The first game of the playoffs was against our biggest rival and it was our biggest challenge yet. The game began and I could tell that both teams were very nervous. That being the fact the game was very choppy and slow. At the end of the first half the game was scoreless but the kids were starting to break out. The second half began and within minutes we were down one to nothing. I can still remember the look of despair that came over the kid’s faces at that moment. A gave them a quick pep talk and they bounced back quite well. They were even successful on tying the game with two minutes left in the third quarter. I was very optimistic of victory after having had been revived. The fourth quarter began and it seemed like the time would never expire. Each second seemed to take a year to pass. Then with only a few minutes left the moment finally came. While our defense cleared the ball up field, our offense picked it up and set up a beautiful play. It just happened to be that the maestro of the ordeal happened to be my pride and joy. They passed the ball to the right-winger who tried to pass it back in front of the goal to the striker. Meanwhile, the striker h...