Are you ready for some football?!

The feeling of fall is in the air.  The air is a bit crisper and the morning dew clings to the grass just a tad longer.  Another sign that fall is here is football.  Pioneer football kicked off the season Saturday night.  Under the stadium lights you could see the sea of red and blue filling the seats and wrapping down around onto the track ready to cheer on their team to victory.  The roar of crowd echoed from one side of the stadium to the other.  The energy being emitted by the players was contagious and fueled the fans cheers.  Touchdown after touchdown, I felt the familiar feeling of excitement returned.  There is something about football that makes me love fall.


Maybe football makes it feel like fall because football has become a very big part of my life since my relationship with Stinson began.  When you marry a football player and coach I think it might be against the law to not like football.  Being married to a football player has opened my eyes to view football in a different light.  I have a greater appreciation for what players go through and how hard they work to earn their spot on the starting roster.  Also, being married to Stinson has provided me with the opportunity to learn more about the ins and outs of the game.  Throughout our relationship he has taught me some of the coverages and routes that are standard parts of football.  There have even been opportunities for me to show off my knowledge and even impress a few of the guys.


Football also represents a sort of family to me.  There is a special bond between those who support and love a player on the team.  This fall I am looking forward to forging new friendships with girlfriends, wives, and mothers of the players.  One of the best parts of Saturdays is sitting in the stands with your football family around you, knowing that you understand each others joy and pain as well as share many of the same anxieties.  I am still looking searching for partner to cheer on the Pioneers with this season, but I feel God leading me towards a few others that look like they are need of friend too!


This Saturday was much less stressful than Saturdays from the past four years.  There was no worries about Stinson getting hurt, if he would play, how well he would play, or what people might be saying in the stands.  While I would not trade his football journey for anything, it is a gift to get to enjoy the players doing what they do best without the wondering or stress.  I do know being a coaches wife will bring new stresses as he moves up, but that is is the future.  For now we are both enjoying the coaching side of the ball.

 

P.S. The Pioneers won 56 to 13!  A great way to start the new season.