They all look alike

Football season started. Trevor has been in conditioning for weeks now. As a Sophomore he has been assigned all three teams. He will be playing on the Freshman team and the JV and dressing down for Varsity, though he says he doesn't expect to get much play time, if any, on Varsity, but he gets to stand on the field in uniform at the games just in case.

He told me his number. Last night was the Freshman game. I sat in the stadium watching his number get a whole lot of play time. That number even was on special teams,  on kick off and kick off return. Now, Trevor is not fast, so it surprised me greatly to see him out there.

After the game I waited to pick him up, after he had changed and left his gear in the school locker. He got into the car and I told him how impressed I was with how much he played. He told me yes he did play a lot but I had the wrong number. Not that he didn't get a lot of play time on the field but on the Freshman team another boy has that number. The number Trevor told me was for Varsity. I watched the wrong lineman all night. He said he tried to text me before the game but coach made him put his phone away and get on the bus.  I did see Trevor's correct number playing, but I did not pay close attention as I assumed the boy in the number I thought was Trevor was my son. I couldn't tell these boys apart once the pads and the helmets are on. They all look alike.

Rough game. The other team has a very talented Quarterback and receiver. We lost,  but Trevor got to play a whole lot. Our team only had 21 players dressed to play. I counted seven boys still in shorts on the sideline from either injury or hadn't made the required conditioning sessions yet. That is a very small squad. Trevor will get to play a lot. He said all the Sophomores are playing on the Freshman team.  I am told there are only seven Sophomores in football. The Juniors have a big turn out, but Sophomores are few. As a result Trevor will be on all the teams and get quite a lot of experience.  

I had this same problem on scrimmage kickoff day. The boys were in practice jerseys. The blue jerseys didn't even have numbers on them. The Freshmen were playing and the JV and Varsity were playing each other. I had to ask another injured player on the sidelines if he knew my son and could he point him out to me please. Trevor was practicing with the Freshmen and the boy knew his position so was able to direct me to the right scrimmage and once I had identified Trevor I could relax and watch him play.

Trevor was a Tackle on Defense that day. Good thing as the coach kept chewing out the offense for not being able to count and being called off sides four times in a row. Saw that issue at last night's game a couple of times, 15 yard penalty. It is a really young team. Trevor plays C gap both offense and defense. I guess I will just have to watch the position not the jersey numbers. He had better warn me if his position changes or I will again be watching the wrong child.
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