The Journey of Parenthood…

Kye’s VSU Football Camp

The past two summers Kye has be involved in a golf camp. While Zach and I are pretty strongly against pushing sports on our children, we do love camps. It gives them a chance to learn skills about sports they are interested in. Rather than signing up for a team and then hating it, it’s an opportunity to see what they like for a short period of time. Small commitment, lots of skill knowledge, and lots of fun! Camps are the way to go, in my opinion, at least until the kids show legit interest in wanting to play something!

We start talking about camps around April/May just to see what Kye is interested in. I did look into some possibilities for Britt but most camps around here start at age 4. Kye said he didn’t want to do golf camp this year because it’s too hot. Haha. Welcome to South Georgia son! 

He said he wanted to do football camp this year. Zach and Kye enjoy throwing the football most evenings and Kye has been showing more and more interest in the sport over this past year. I expected to be nervous about him playing, but I wasn’t. I knew it’d just be fundamentals and that they’d take good care of him.

Valdosta State offered a 4 day (2 ½ hours each day) football camp for kids in kindergarten and up. It was hosted at VSU and coached by their staff. Kye was SO excited about it and I’m pretty sure Zach may have been equally excited! I was a little nervous that after having the camp all week that Kye would say he wants to play football in the fall, but he didn’t. Whew. I’m not ready for that! He LOVED the camp and learned a TON and it def has increased his interest more in the sport. He has already said he really wants to do it again next year 🙂 

I’m also so glad he hasn’t asked about playing on a team because while I was at camp watching him I could hear some of the “sports moms” around me talking and omg I don’t want to be part of that group. Hearing them brag about their kids and act like little Johnny is the next superstar irked me. I’m not competitive. I’m just not and never have been and competitive parenting drives me nuts. I don’t like to compare my kids to others nor do I like for others to compare my kids to theirs. Luckily I don’t have to deal with that mess much…but I know it’s something we will face in sports when the time comes and I just dread it. 

Zach, Mr. Rusty, Mrs. Charlotte and me and the girls all had opportunities to see him in action. All the pics are with our phones so they aren’t good quality but you can get the idea of how TINY our child was compared to the other kids and how much he learned!

They did a lot of drills and stretches and such to warm up. They learned skills each day and then finished the camp with a scrimmage. They had the kids divided up so they older ones were doing their own thing, which I appreciated! When I would drop him off or pick him up the coaches were very complimentary of him. They said he was so respectful, obedient, and a great listener and that they never really heard him talk haha! He was in deep concentration I’m sure 🙂 

At the end of each day they gave them lunch, which you know Kye LOVED!

I was able to be there to watch a scrimmage! The first day after camp Kye was literally crying because he said his legs hurt so bad. I realized why…kid ran like CRAZY. He was so much smaller (and younger) than the other kids that he never got the ball so he just was running back and forth over and over again. I was so proud watching him though. His size and his inexperience didn’t cause him to be fearful or hold back. He gave it his all in every drill and everything they had him do. In the games he kept his eye on the ball and was very serious about contributing to his team. In these pics you can tell he’s getting open and ready to get the ball if it’s thrown his way (which it wasn’t, bless him!). 

At the end of the scrimmage one of the coaches grabbed the ball and gave it to Kye and ran him across the goal line 🙂

Kye wanted to wear his special jersey on the last day! I was pretty embarrassed about it because it’s a special jersey Zach had made for him. Coach Dean (the head coach at VSU) helped Zach get decals and such to make a matching helmet for it too for Kye’s birthday. Kye LOVES it but it’s Zach’s number and it’s a little flashy to be wearing at a camp. I just didn’t want him to get teased or anything like that but he had so much confidence! He wanted to sport his Daddy’s number so he rocked it 🙂 

I think the coolest part about Kye participating in the camp was that he got to be coached by Coach Dean. Coach Dean was Zach’s favorite coach in college (he was the receiver coach before becoming the offensive coordinator and then head coach). We were SO thankful when he became head coach before Zach’s senior year. His junior year was ROUGH and dealing with the head coach at that time made us actually consider transferring. Coach Dean becoming head coach was truly a blessing. He’s an AMAZING man and lead the team to the national championship victory Zach’s senior season (2007…yes we are old). What an awesome honor to have him get to coach Zach’s son! I was hesitant to ask for a picture but Mrs. Charlotte was there and had already talked about Zach’s glory days so much that I was less embarrassed to ask haha! 

Kye received a certificate at the end of camp along with a t-shirt (which G-Mama said looked like Daddy so he loves that!), water bottle, and a ton of stickers. He had an AWESOME time. He never once complained (other than the hurting leg pain) and was excited to go to camp each morning. I’m so glad he participated in the camp and look forward to seeing him out there again next year! Being out there and around the Blazer environment brought back so many wonderful memories for Zach and I as well and really made us want to make sure we go to more games and show our Blazer support more this season! 

Emily Parker
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