Outstanding Athlete Award

Today Ty was honored as one of Bingham High School's Outstanding Athletes. This award is given to 2 male and 2 female athletes each year. As a mom, you always think your kids are great. But to be honest, I didn't think Ty got the props he deserved during the football season. Every game the coaches picked an offensive and defensive player to honor. Ty was never recognized. At the end of the season banquet, nothing. Weird for the QB of the state championship team. Steve and I thought we were just proud parents who thought more of our son than others did. He did get an award at the end of the basketball season as a team leader and outstanding player.
Ty has always excelled in athletics. I still remember him running in the door after school waving the flier from school for football and begging me to sign him up. He was so little and football is so brutal, I wasn't excited. But Steve talked me into letting him play by telling me the life lessons he would learn, and that kids that small are not really strong enough to hurt each other with all those pads to protect them.
Ty did learn many things through football. He learned to get to practice on time or he would have to run laps. He learned to do his best or the coach would make him do it again. He learned to work together with his teammates to reach a goal. He learned to get up when he got knocked down. He learned to keep trying until the last whistle blew. He learned that sometimes things are really hard, but you can do them. Basketball and baseball reinforced these same lessons.
There is a new saying in the parenting world. Kids need "work-esteem". Many of our culture today has lost the self-esteem gained through the feeling of finishing a job an feeling that sense of accomplishment. Work, even for small children, used to be such a part of everyday life and now is often lost in our modern world. Ty gained so much "work-esteem" each day in practice. He felt the gratification and self esteem you can only feel after really sweating and working.
So, even if Ty had never been acknowledged for his hard work and accomplishments, he still is a better person for his efforts. It was just fun to see him up on the stage, with 2400 of his classmates watching, getting this award. Now every time we walk into a game for Eric or Nate, I can see Ty's name in the trophy case and point it out to everyone around. "That's my son!"