Youth and high school sports have been a constant in our home for two decades. Tanya and I have coached soccer, flag football, baseball, basketball - and we have cheered on all of those plus track, cross country and tennis (and now rugby). We have started programs, supported programs, and mainly supported our boys in all of it. If it has a ball or a finish line - we have been there.
Last night we watched our Arrows, especially our favorite Arrow Greyson battle Dover on the football field at Crater Stadium for nearly 2 hours. It was a contest that ultimately ended in defeat for Ashland, but the boys never gave up and never gave in to the mental and physical exhaustion that, as a parent you feel right along with your athlete as they struggle and strain.
After the last knee was taken and our team had gathered with coaches and parents on the field something really special happened. It’s been on my mind in a powerful way since, and is why I wanted to share these rambling thoughts.
Dover’s entire team, after cheering and celebrating a hard fought victory with their band and student section, came over to the opposite end zone where we were gathered, sore, defeat still fresh, and they called out to our boys to kneel and pray with them - all of them. Some of our guys took a moment to figure out what was happening, but once they all knew, they ALL knelt down together and prayed. Not as two opposing teams who had just pummeled each other for 4 quarters - but as a group of young men. Tired, half reeling with the rush of victory, half bent by the disappointment of defeat, but wholeheartedly together in that moment.
Dover had just experienced very emotional week, losing a freshman student and athlete to suicide - and perhaps that stirred the Spirit in them more than usual and made this act one that felt necessary - maybe it’s something that they have done before, I can’t say - and frankly to me it doesn’t matter what the catalyst was. This was something that moved me, as I am sure it did others in a way that has stuck with me.
God is moving in this generation - I see it in my son as he leads his teammates in pregame prayer and kneels to connect with God before games, and I saw it in a powerful way last night. God is present and real and moving in these young men and women in a way that we as older adults need to pay attention to and learn from.
All these years of investing time and energy into these kids and hoping that they learned something from my heart, and not just my whistle - I felt and learned more last night than I could ever hoped to have taught.
Thank you Dover - and thank you for all who are supporting youth sports and Christian youth activities in our communities. It is having an impact far beyond just the kids.
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