Letter to the Board of 8th Grade Football

I am a very proud mamma of an 8th grade football player.

When people ask me who I root for Michigan or State or is that the same team?

I always respond with "WAYLAND WILDCATS!"

Yup, I'm a football lover of one team, my son's.

But for the last two years he has had the same coaches with the same problems- they play the same kids over and over while others stand on the sidelines.

This is not acceptable to me.  This is 8th grade... not JV, not Varsity, but 8th grade.  It's not even technically affiliated with the school even though we wear Wayland colors and play on their field.  Every player has to pay the same amount of money to play.  Every parent has to get their kids to the practices and games the same.  So why isn't every player playing the game the same?

This morning, I sent the below email to the president of the board of the 5/6ers and 7/8ers team.  I also CC'd the coaches in the email because I think that is fair.  The problem here is that these coaches and their spouses are also on the board.

I'm not sure if anything will happen, but because my messages on the team's FB page keep getting deleted, I thought I'd broadcast it out there this way. 


Good morning gentlemen,

I'd first like to start by saying thank you to the coaches for their hard work in coaching the 8th grade team.  I know that it takes a lot of time out of their lives to do this and our boys wouldn't be able to participate in football without them.

So truly, thank you.

I am also thankful for the amount of 8th grades boys that are playing football as well as their families that sacrifice so much for their sons to have that opportunity.  Parents are just as invested in the sport with their time and money as the coaches and players are.

Perhaps that is why there are so many angry parents on the team.  Some show it through yelling from the sidelines, others attempt to speak with the coaches about it face to face while others wait for someone else to speak up for them.

That is what I am doing now.  Speaking up.

I get that the team has an abundance of players on it.  I totally understand how easy it is to forget some of the kids in the heat of a game.  However, I do not and cannot understand why there are boy who are playing both offense and defense sides as well as both special teams while there are players who are not allowed to play. 

There were several boys who walked away from the home game on Saturday angry because they were put in during the last minute and 52 seconds of a game there was no chance of losing.

Last night when Cedar Springs became our defeaters, boys left the game crying... not because we lost, but because they were not allowed to play.

My heart is breaking for the kids who are not allowed to play, for the ones who are only put in for a couple of plays as well as for the ones who are playing all of the time.  Those boys need a break before they get seriously injured.  They are also learning that they alone are the driving force behind their team.  As a parent who is raising a generation that is going to rule this country, I want humble leaders who are willing to share in the glory and failure together- not ones who carry the entire responsibility on their shoulders.

Yes, I know this is only football.  But for some of these kids, it is their life.  It is what helps them to get up in the morning and what drives them to excel in school and push their bodies to the limits.  All of those items help to mold them to be great young men of moral character or cocky arrogant ones who could care less of others.

This is where the coaches can truly do their job of coaching. They can rotate in every player that is not injured.  This will give the starters time to breath and watch the game they love to play so they can tell the second and third string players "good job out there".  Doing this will also allow for the other strings to build confidence in who they are on and off the field.

They need to be allowed to play.  Not just for a couple of plays, but throughout the entire game.  They need to be given the opportunity to take claim in both the wins and losses and they can't unless they play.

I'm a firm believer that if you see a problem that you shouldn't address it until you have a way to resolve it.  The problem here isn't that there are too many kids, the problem is that the same ones play every game on both offense and defense sides.  The solution is to rotate more players in throughout the entire game, not just when it is convenient.  

We have one game left.  One last opportunity for our coaches and boys to shine.  I pray that this email will be a positive influence on the team as a whole so that when they take the field one last time as 8th graders, they are all able to claim a piece of that game- win or lose- it doesn't matter- all that matters is that they are able to fight together- as a team.

Thank you for your time.

Mary Ann Mattingly