From the Sideline

If you are a big football enthusiast like me you know how involved you can get in the stands. You cheer and go crazy when your team scores or when they stop their opponent on a big third down to make them punt or kick a field goal. But there’s one more place in the stadium you can get even more involved in the game without playing or coaching. That place is helping the team on the sideline. My job on the sideline is to help fill the water bottles and hydrate the players. It’s hard work because you have to constantly be filling up water bottles and giving them to the players coming off the field.It is an important job because if the players are not hydrated they can cramp up and it becomes harder for them to play.  I’m going to give you an in depth look on how it feels to be on the sideline of a Kalani Football Game. It will be a journey from kickoff to the final whistle.

Before every game, the team meets at school in the locker room and prepares to board the bus. While on the bus, the JV Football Team is a loose group talking about all kinds of things, but once they get off the bus the attitude changes. They become serious and determined to do well and win the football game. As they start to warm up they chat a little bit more about the game. As the ball gets kicked off to start the game the coaches walk down the sidelines trying to pump up their players and get them ready to go on the field.

During the game, the player’s emotions change depending on what happened. For example, when they score a touchdown everyone gets excited and pumped up. But when they give up a touchdown everyone feels upset and a few coaches and players try to raise the team’s spirit. For instance during halftime, Kalani was trailing and the coaches were telling the players they had a chance to come back fighting in the second half and win the game. As the second half started the Kalani JV team had a good first drive deep in the opponent’s half that was unfortunately stopped. As the offense came back to the sideline, the defense was determined to get the ball back  so the offense would have a chance to narrow the gap. Unfortunately the JV Football team lost after a tough game of ups and downs.

After the game ended the coaches spoke to the players about what went well and what didn’t go so well. Football is a very strategic game. It’s not always who’s the fastest, who hits the hardest, or who has the better team, because in football any team can win depending on how they play and how determined they are that day.