The Hitman

The Hitman Gilligan is back! I left Robbie's puppy class a bit early so I could get home to watch Devin at football practice. They are working on their tackling and pursuit skills. Teaching the boys to keep an eye on the ball and move their bodies to be in the correct position to take down the receiver or running back. They set up a drill with 2 tackling dummies on the ground to create a lane. The offensive players on one side, the defensive players on the other. One defensive player would run down the lane and face 2 offensive players...one carrying the ball, the other one blocking. Devin's positions requires him to shed the blocker and tackle the ball carrier.

First time up, Devin got stopped by the blocker so one of the coaches explained what he needed to do. The second time up, wham! He got rid of the blocker and took the ball carrier down. It was a very nice tackle. Third time up, Devin and Collin May (very fast agile player) slammed into each other; knocking Devin backwards. The sound of the pads clashing was impressive. Well, Devin never likes to be stuffed. Next time out, he had to go up against Collin again. This time, slam and Collin went down. His Mother was standing with us watching them. She asked which kid was Devin. Right at that point, Devin and Collin were hitting each other and I said - there he is, with Collin. We have come to enjoy talking with her - our boys played together last year and were always on opposite sides due to their individual strengths. Devin and Collin like to go up against each other because they are both quite intense and enjoy pushing each other to improve. It's fun to watch. Her younger son, Kyle, played soccer with Devin several years ago and is one amazing soccer player. But I think he will be playing football next year as he is too young to play yet. So American Soccer loses another bright star of the future to football. Such is life in America.

Back to football - we are still waiting to hear how the teams will be split up. Varsity Section 1, Varsity Section 3 and JV. The Section 1 Varsity is for the bigger, older boys who have played several years already. But there is a chance that Devin will play in Section 3. If so, I will miss some of his games. If he is on JV, I will get to see him play a lot. We may find out tonight.