Força History

(in English, you say his name like FORE-sah, and it means 'force' or 'strength' in Portuguese)

There's a tiny park adjacent to the elementary school my children go to. It has been my routine to pick my kids up at the gate and then we all spend time at the park. They run and play and I get to talk to adults. We've been doing this for the past seven years and have made some great friends along the way.

A few years ago there was a group of kids - older than mine - playing some pretty intense soccer at our park. Força took one look and wanted to play; bad. He was about 6 at the time so he was much younger than these players. The kids were super sweet and let him play anyway and he playe hard. And what I mean by hard is not only would he be sweating and filthy by the end of it all, but every day he'd get hurt. After the third or so time, I took him aside and told him that maybe he shouldn't play, maybe it was just too much. He said, 'no, momma, it's ok. I just have to cry a little and then I can play again'.

No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.

~William Penn

I wondered that people may have gotten the wrong idea from my last post, where I discussed high school football 'dying', injuries and whatnot. I may have given the impression that I don't want my kids to get hurt. That isn't the case at all. I think it's one of the worst things about our school system and larger society, this idea that our kids should be wrapped in bubble wrap, never experiencing pain or disappointment. It's the only way to grow as a person, to make mistakes and get bloody. If you never fall down, how can you rise?

Soccer / blood

Kids Sports; Blood

Kids Sports; Blood

Kids Sports; Blood