Can you feel it? The snow is starting to melt and life is about to get great again. The heavy coats, the large, bulky hoodies and the coverall dresses will soon be a thing of the past. Can’t you just feel the optimism in the air?
I know I can. I want to tell you that it’s because of the new supplement I’m taking, or because the sun is shining longer, and harder on us here in Montreal these last few weeks despite the rising snowbanks. I could tell you it’s because my kids have miraculously turned into independent adults and no longer require food, lifts and money – not necessarily in that order, mind you. I could tell you it’s because I’m come to accept that people come and go in your life, and no matter how they treat you, it’s ultimately your own decision how you respond to that. It’s not that, either.
I would even go so far as to say I’m joyous and optimistic because the feeling of being loved unconditionally is something that cannot be understated, but even though that’s maybe the greatest feeling in the world, that’s not it.
Nope. I’m on top of the world because football season is back upon us and the hard work is beginning.
But that hard work is just so damn fun. Teaching young athletes how to play a wonderful sport. Watching the joy in their faces as they master new skills and learn to build a family out of what was once just a bunch of players who sort-of knew one another. Watching them fill their hearts with love for one another through shared trials of practices and games and watching them become young warriors on the field. Game planning. Practice planning. I get chills just talking about it!
OK, OK. I’m getting super super ahead of myself -- but the off-season has gotten started with a bang. The last two weeks, our Lakeshore football organization has held some insanely successful open house skills & drills and strength & conditioning sessions, bringing in nearly a hundred young football players to the events, which we will be holding throughout the season at the Club Dome West Island facility in Kirkland.
We will hold another skills & drills session Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Club Dome West Island, 300 Edmond St. in Kirkland. Participants can come try football free of charge without contact, working with our excellent coaching staff. A bonus: John Abbott Islanders head coach Pat Gregory and some of his Bol d’Or-winning coaching staff from last season will run drills for the older players, exposing the Lakeshore athletes to some excellent high-level coaching. Full disclosure: Gregory was the receivers coach when I played at Concordia University so many years ago, and I respect him even more now than I did then.
What a treat that will be for some of our players!!!!!!!! Exclamation points are the bomb, by the way. ;)
So, I guess that’s it. Nothing more than unabashed optimism being driven in my heart by the return of football season!
I’ll take it. it's a good feeling.