The Boys of Summer Become the Men of Fall

Editor’s Note:  Central High Coach Doug Dotson just completed his summer football camp.  A total of 225 boys, age 6 through 9th grade, attended.

CENTRAL — It’s best not to make a big deal about football.  It is, after all, just a game.  A mere boyhood sport.  That’s all it is.  Really.

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Well, perhaps it is one thing more.  A metaphor, perhaps.

Yes, it is a metaphor.

General Douglas McArthur said it — a metaphor for life.

Above the entrance to the fieldhouse at West Point are engraved these words of Gen. McArthur:

“On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days and on other fields will bear the fruits of victory.”

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On the website of the United States Military Academy, it says:

“An underlying principle at West Point is ‘Every cadet an athlete, every athlete challenged.’ Therefore, every cadet is required to participate in the competitive sports program during the fall, winter, and spring seasons and at a level of competition consistent with a cadet’s ability.”

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Why would our military insist — in this high-tech world — that our future military officers devote such an enormous amount of time and energy to sports throughout the entire year?

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Is there perhaps more to it than meets the eye?

Right now, at Central High School, young men are devoting much of their summer to a vigorous program of weight-lifting in preparation for the football season.

What is all this about?

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Is football really about long, boring hours in the gym, mindlessly lifting weights?

Is it about denying yourself all the delicious foods and tempting drinks that everyone else is enjoying?

Is it about sweating for hours in 100-degree heat when friends are in the pool or with the girls?

Is it about beating your brains against a 250-pound bully who gets his pleasure from making you suffer?

Is it about mindless adherence to arbitrary rules and regulations and the whims of a coach who can humiliate you in front of your friends or make you do 100 pushups or send you running up and down the field a 100 times?

Or is there something more going on?

Where does a young man today go to find a role model he can look up to?

Who has the persuasive power to tell him his parents are right and that he should listen to them?

Who has the power to look inside of him and see his weaknesses and his fears, and yet also see his potential for greatness?

Who can mold the boy into a member of a team?  Who can teach him to work with others to achieve a high goal?  Who can show him the sacrifice it takes to be a champion?  Who can be completely unforgiving and yet know when to forgive?

Who can open the door for a boy to become the man he was meant to be?

A great coach, that’s who!

Which is why coaching is one of the most important professions ever created.

On the field, on the team, in the unit, a boy can build his confidence.

He can learn to rely on himself, and he can take responsibility for his actions.

But, even more important, he can learn to accept the responsibility for others who are relying on him.

A single missed assignment, and a game is lost, a season is loss.

In life, we must learn to rely on ourselves.  That is step one.

But life is about much more than that.  To a great extent, life is about learning to come through for the people who are counting on us.

For many, it all begins with these words: “Son, the team is counting on you.  Are you the man for the job?”

“Yes, sir, coach!  I’m the man for the job!  You can count on me!”

The boys of summer become the men of fall.

Watch these young men, and you will see.

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Maybe football really is something more than just a game.

Country Living in the City column is written by Woody Jenkins, editor, Central City News. Photo by Connor Lloyd of Central City News.