Caleb's First Flag Football Game

Saturday was Caleb's first flag football game.  Bryan's parents drove up that morning and met us at the field so they could watch the game.  The game was pretty funny!  The coaches had to physically put each boy in place before each play, sometimes even picking them up and setting them in place.  The boys rotated thru playing center, quarterback and running back and also had a set rotation to sub in and out of the game.  The center would hike the ball (hand it off, basically) and once the quarterback had given it to the running back the coaches would have to yell "GO!" so the boys knew they needed to do something.  

Caleb took his turn at each position but I wouldn't say he's super interested in the game at this point.  Some of the kids - especially those who have played before or who have older siblings - really get what they are supposed to do.  There were funny moments like kids running the wrong direction and pulling flags of the defense while carrying the ball.

Sometime during the third quarter Caleb decided he was DONE.  We noticed he was not really participating as evidenced by this picture:

See the kid on the far right sitting on the ground?  That would be our sweet boy.

When it was his turn to sub out he started playing in the dirt and then refused to go back in.  Bryan went and talked to him, telling him it was time to play again and Caleb said, "But I already played enough!  The game is TOO LONG!".  Bryan told him he could either play again or stand and cheer for his team, but he could not turn his back to the team on the sidelines and play in the dirt.  He chose to stand and cheer for the last few minutes of the game.

Even though Caleb wasn't super enthusiastic about the game, his coaches handled the situation really well.  They were patient with him and encouraged him and said we would just work our way up to having him play longer in the game.

By Monday night's practice Caleb was running around with his team scrimmaging and having a fantastic time.  We can tell he does enjoy being a part of the team even if he doesn't have a really competitive spirit :)

We are looking forward to seeing how he improves in the weeks to come!