Words can not describe the emotions.  It’s a feeling that I have never known. I can only imagine that this must be somewhat like what a parent feels; seeing their child work so hard for something, to want something so badly that they do almost anything to get it.  I am so very proud of what they have accomplished this year. To overcome the challenges they have faced with a winning attitude and a great spirit. I have watched these young men, not only for the past year but for some, the last four years.  I have seen them grow from individuals to being a family.  They are more than just a team.  They are brothers. They joke, they tease, they prank, they care, they worry, they have each other’s backs, they have my back, and they look out for each other. They are a family.  Like any family they have their fights, their disagreements, and their squabbles but in the end, they are there for each other. It ends with a handshake and a resolution. These are not the same boys that started out in September. They are Champions!

I can only dream of what this year can do for the next few years of soccer at Boylen.  With the support of the student body, the staff and each other, great things are going to continue to happen.  Success breeds success is what you always hear, that’s just what I’m hoping for!  I hope that we get the spark lit under any and all soccer players in our school; for them to hear about the great things that this year’s team got to experience and for them to want that as well.  I want a junior team back up and running. I want to have the hard task of having to assign athletes to the practice squad, that would mean that I have lots of players trying out and force those on the starting roster to work to maintain their position.  Force team members to maintain or exceed the academic standards and to push themselves physically harder than they may think they are capable of. The human body is capable of much more than the mind lets it think it is.

Last night we knew that today’s game wouldn’t make a difference, we were coming home win or lose. Some players pulled themselves due to injuries that they didn’t want to make worse and rest for their club games this weekend.  Some players played so hard yesterday that they were suffering from slight dehydration and heat exhaustion, so they sat.  Others had to learn a lesson that you don’t disrespect the referee or coach no matter what the incident was, and the athlete understood and didn’t argue the reasoning behind being told he would not be playing.  All these individuals added that they wanted to see the players that hadn’t had much field time play more.  Could all these guys have played in today’s game, yeah (except the last one, that was my call).  But they wanted their teammates to have the experience of playing at a Provincial Championship.  The support that these guys give each other is amazing.  The cheers and claps coming from the bench, the words of encouragement and the team spirit almost brought me to tears today. 

The game itself was a good one. If we had all our starters, I have no doubts that we would have won but winning wasn’t the goal of today’s game.  Our goal was to play hard, play proud and have fun. And that’s exactly what Boylen did.  The second string players stepped up and played very well.  Our goalie had a great game and finally started playing the way I have wanted him to for the past FOUR years!  Out of his crease and aggressive!  When I said “it works”, he said “it hurts!”  Oh well, better late than never though.  Some of our defenders got the opportunity to move up.  Our goalie even made a rush up the middle of the field trying to go for goal himself. It didn’t quite work but it was quite entertaining to watch.  Even though we lost the game, these guys are winners.  They came off the field smiling, laughing, high-fiving and for the first time I didn’t have to coral them all to go shake hands.  They had fun. Mission Accomplished.

After Monday's Athletic Awards Banquet, I actually get to re-focus on my own training for the first time since the winter. I'm looking forward to it. I know that I'm not where I should be right now but I have no regrets. I put that time into getting the soccer team where they needed to be and it was worth every minute. OFSAA is an experience of a lifetime and I'm so happy that I had a part in that for these guys.

For the full story of the 2008-2009 Nelson A. Boylen C.I. Skyhawks Soccer team take a look at my my post from June 3rd.

Countdown to Adventure => 21 days