I had the chance to watch my son live for the first time this season. They faced the #15 team in the state. They are far below being top 30. What stood out to me most is that he actually is starting to look the part. The kid has a future. He’s a 15 year old sophomore starter who is probably developmentally exactly where his D1 playing brother was at the same point in his HS career. They have different games. #16 (formerly #5) is a hitter whereas his big bro is a cerebral cover guy whose tackling is largely about ‘ankle-biting’ to big effect. They both use their bodies well, and #16 is at the point where he is going to hit a growth spurt and grow into more speed and power. He needs to do track this winter and spring to reach that next potential step, and I am going to make sure he does it.
Still, he’s on a losing team and that kind of thing can break your spirit. This is not going to be a team with a winning record — likely in the two years he has left after this one, which leaves me with the question of whether or not he should stay. I think he should. There is something still to be said for loyalty in my book, and he does so much already that he will only grow to have a larger role and more opportunity to play the game this way. On the other side of the argument, he is not practicing against talent and that is going to hurt him. I need to find a way to help him practice harder, which will hopefully make his team practice harder. He cannot get better by giving this little effort.
The team is bad, but he looks good. I’m happy with where he is at skill-wise, but far from satisfied.