"Guess what we played in PE today mum!?" And before I could fail terribly with my guesses he excitedly told me it was NFL and that he was actually pretty good at it, not something I hear often from my boy! I continued to hear about these different PE lessons and the break times that now needed a specific area for the group that seemed unable to stop throwing this new style of ball around. It wasn't just the usual football playing kids that were involved, it had sparked interest from such a good mix of children. Jamie was really happy when Mr Johnson told them all that he was starting an NFL after school club, this was different, it was a new sport to them all and a chance for new and different talents to be found.
We are going to a regional tournament, we probably won't win but I still want to go because it's fun! It was a closed event so the parents couldn't watch but I will never forget arriving to pick Jamie up afterwards and the team running over to me with a big silver trophy falling over each other to tell me We had won! We are going to Spurs for Nationals! And blow me down if my boy hadn't gone and been voted MVP by his team mates...Priceless!
The team was so excited to be going to Spurs for the Nationals, they had really enjoyed taking part in the Regional competition, not just playing and winning but the NFL Staff that had run the event had really made an impression.
Wow! Just Wow! What a venue for our kids to play at, to see their faces as they walked out onto the grass for the first time at Spurs and looked around, with wide eyes and opened mouths. The excitement seeing The Houghton Bears name in lights on the score board, all the other teams, NFL staff, cameras and of course Professional Players made the excitement infectious and our group of supporting parents had so much fun cheering our team on. The team proudly put on the Jerseys they were gifted and met their NFL Pro Coach for the day Chicago BearsAkiem Hicks...WOW!
As our children went on to win their place in each round our excitement grew! Before the final We phoned back to our little village school and were told that the reception staff had been running the corridors ringing the bell to let everyone know every time the team won, everyone was on the edge of their seats and the school day had ground to a halt!
Standing on the side of the pitch and watching the Team come out of the tunnel for the final was just amazing and the memory brings a lump to my throat.
