If I did not believe before, I would be a believer now. Any activity, whether it is sports, girl scouts, Karate, or any number of groups that young kids can participate in, is so important. I have seen my son blossom this year since he had the opportunity to play Pop Warner Football. His self confidence has really grown in the past 2 months. He believes in himself so much more now. I attribute the growth to him joining football.

He begged me to sign him up this year. His dad and I were hesitant because we knew it would take up a lot of his time. We felt that he really needed to focus on school, because it is difficult for him. We had many long discussions on what are expectations were of him and his school work. School work must always come first. If home work is not done, then there is no football. Also if grades start to slip, then no football. Who knew this was the motivation he needed.

Now that the season is almost to an end, I will give a little recap of his school year so far. He is keeping up with his school work and is able to get all of his homework done before practice. There is no arguements from him. He is happy to do it. He wanted to join Student Council. He wrote and gave a speech in class, which is not easy for him and won.

As for his preformance in football....he is really amazing to watch. He has found his "thing". He has developed leadership. We always talk about pumping up your team, when they are doing good and especially when they are not doing good. We talk about being gracious in winning and in defeat. We especially talk about having fun. He has had such an amazing season so far, many wins, many touchdowns, and his close favorite, many tackles.

Find your childs "thing" and support them. It is so worth the sacrifices we as parents have to make.