We have an awesome youth football program here in town. The man in the background in the grey sweatshirt is our high school football coach, and he and several other men volunteer their time to coach our kids. It really takes a lot of time, and normally we enjoy watching fun games like the one above (my 9 year old is #71 in the white jersey).
But last night was a little less fun. We got to the field, and I sat in the car as long as possible before digging out my lawn chair, umbrella, and winter coat.
It rained really hard through the whole evening. The wind was blowing and the temperature was in the 30's.
Normally they probably would have cancelled, but last night was the "jamboree" - which is actually a really fun format.
Each team played each of the other 3 teams - four plays on offense, each starting on the 20 yard line. (That in itself was a merciful act - they were supposed to play seven plays each, but due to the weather they cut back - thankfully!) They kept track of how much progress each team made from the 20 and totaled the points. So for instance, my son's white team started out on offense against the black team. They lined up on the 20 for four plays (and they happened to make it to the end zone on three of those plays). Then they traded places with the black team, and the black team had four chances from the 20.
After they had exchanged 8 total plays with the black team, they went to the other end of the field and tested their skills against the orange team. Then back to the first end to play against the green team.
When that was all done, they tested the skill of the defense. The white team lined up on the five yard line, defending the end zone. Each of the other three teams had one play to try to get into the end zone. None of them made it. In the end, we were all frozen - especially the kids, who were completely soaked. My son's team WON! Thankfully Bugga had offered to keep my two youngest, so they were spared the horrible weather. My legs were shaking so bad by the time it was over that it was hard to walk. We went home and made hot cocoa :) and had our crockpot pulled pork sandwiches (which my nine year old calls "coffee pork" because it's just a pork roast cooked all day in coffee, then shredded and mixed with barbecue sauce).
Hopefully the next game will be warmer. They're actually done (they've been playing 9-man football) but the older kids get to continue if they want to in 11-man. So practice for 11-man will begin next Monday, and they play an the Big Piney team here on Thursday, and for the first time will get to play full field (they've been playing 1/2 field). Then we get to travel to Jackson Hole to play their team the Saturday a week after that. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks. This is homecoming week for our high school team, so at Friday's game all the younger players are going to be introduced by name and get to run out on the field with the high school team, dressed in their full game gear. Then the following weekend, we get to go to the University of Wyoming's homecoming game. The youth league bought tickets for all the players and parents could purchase discounted tickets. The weekend after that is the Jackson game. I think we're pushing it as far as weather goes. We woke up to snow this morning, but I'll put those pictures in a different post.
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