Last Saturday the Keyser Mini Tornadoes A, B, and C teams all rolled over their competition from Oakland, Maryland. The game kicked off what ought to be another strong season for Keyser. Another run at the league championship should lie in these teams' future.
Evn more important is what football does for these children. In America today children have few chances to learn real values. Few minors have to do much work these days as their parents or grandparents did on the farm. Many of the schools have transformed into institutions that emphasize self-esteem and rigid enforcement of rules rather than overcoming challenges. Even other sports try to remove the competitiveness by not keeping score. Everyone is supposed to walk away a winner just for showing up even though the kids are well aware who won or lost.
Football is a harsh and unforgiving sport. Each player must work hard to learn their job and do it to the best of their abilities. If someone does not do their job, the team fails, and likely a teammate ends up getting hit hard. Football punishes physically, but helps develop menta and physical toughness. It also teaches the value of hard work and the important lesson that your best on some days was just not good enough. Within football, individual achievement is recognized and praised, but children also learn to work with each other. More than other sports, players learn a sense of brotherhood that comes from experiencing hardship together.
Football has its own value set. With some notable exceptions, the culture encourages pride with humility, strength without boasting. Players celebrating after a touchdown are told "act like you've been there before." There is a reason why the National Football League has the most player pastors of any professional league.
In short, football is one of the last opportunities available to children that teaches how to compete, how to succeed, and how to respond to failure. These values give participants a leg up when they eventually hit the adult world.
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