Mason went out for tackle again this year. He was really looking forward to the season. He loves football so much, he is never without one, constantly practicing at home, at the park, the beach and church...
He quickly discovered that playing here would be pretty different from playing in Oregon... at least in his limited experience. The coaches, who gave of their time very generously, just had a different way of doing things. They yelled, and yelled a lot.
Mason learned all the swear words that we had sheltered him from :/ , and found out that football is extremely intense here. His team was in the junior pee wee division and their shirts said, "Attitude is Everything", but you would think it was college level intensity. I was a little nervous that he would be treated unfairly because he is a haole, and not a local boy like almost all the rest of the kids. That was never the case. They liked him, his work ethic and never singled him out unfairly. We decided that the intensity, the yelling, and the swearing is just a way of life in the local culture here.
This ref wouldn't stand for it though. He called them out with their bad attitudes on more than one occasion and said, "I know you did NOT just say that! Because if you did, it would not go well for you!" He shut them up pretty fast and I found myself quietly clapping for the ref :)
Oddly enough, unlike liberal Oregon, there were prayers before every game with both teams.
And interestingly enough, by the end of this game, I thought there was a pretty good chance we could be injured in some sort of fight. It was so heated and intense, the coaches started yelling insults at each other from across the field, and then the parents from the other team started yelling at the parents and coached from our team. I almost grabbed the kids and ran to the car. It was craziness. But thankfully this was the only game in which I feared for my life. The other ones were pretty fun to watch.
Mason worked very hard playing the receiver position, and ended up scoring several touchdowns!
And he even scored a touchdown in the Aloha Stadium!
This was the most local group of people we have been with so far. They were kind to us, but at a distance. When they had parties or potlucks, they all seemed to know each other, and didn't go out of their way to come talk. It did feel kind of uncomfortable, even though I had expected it would probably be like that.
Mason decided that, though football is absolutely his favorite sport, he would take a break from it the next year. He didn't want to submit himself to some of the stuff he had to during the practices and games. He said it just wasn't as fun as playing in Oregon. (I'm writing this a year late, but posting on the right time). They ended up not having enough players to make a team the following year. I have heard around our little town that more people than I thought felt the same way... interesting.
Either way, we loved watching him play and are proud of the hard work he put in to the season!
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