The first home game where a brand-new football team was learning how to become one. I don’t know much about football, but I know that Roosevelt County is very blessed to have ENMU located in our borders. Our community benefits in so many ways from having a four-year university. And College Football games is one of them. The stadium is so nice; the atmosphere at the tailgating was so much fun, food and conversations flowed before the game.
The game started, and the setbacks came. They hurt the players. They hurt the coach. They hurt the hometown fans watching from the stands. But every setback teaches the team something a scoreboard can’t measure.
They learned that talent alone was not enough. They had to trust the teammate beside them. They had to communicate when they were tired, stay disciplined when they were frustrated, and keep fighting when the score or the weather was not in their favor. They had to learn how to play together, work together, and eventually become a team. I am guessing in football, like in life, you just learn what not to do before you learn what to do!
This weekend I heard someone say, “Let’s quit hyping the Coach and just play football.”
If you have met the Coach, you know that he is all about his team and the minute you start talking about his accomplishments he turns the conversation around to talking about his team players or just about the game. I am betting that our Coach knows that you have to lose a few before you win a few.
Fair enough.
Let’s play football.
But let’s also remember that football is not played by strangers wearing the same colors. It is played by guys who are building something together. That takes time, patience, hard work, and support.
So, let’s support our coach as he teaches and leads. Let’s support our players as they learn and grow. Let’s fill the stands, cheer loudly, and remind them that their hometown believes in them – not only when the scoreboard looks good, but also when the road gets hard.
Because being a fan is easy when the wins are piling up. Real support is showing up while the foundation is still being built.
A day is coming when the blocks will hold, the passes will connect, and the lessons from today’s losses will become the backbone behind tomorrow’s victories. One day, we will watch these players take the field not simply as individuals in matching uniforms, but as a team.
Until then, we show up. We cheer. We believe.
Win or lose, they are still our players, this is still our coach, and they are still our hometown team.
