Michai has always attended schools out of our district, which means he rarely rode the bus, which also means I learned a lot about him from our daily drives. Some days he was very talkative, others he offered one word answers and most days he slept. On the days he felt like talking, I did my best to get as much out of him about his future as possible.
He was always too big to play Pop Warner football, which didn’t bother me because I didn’t like the schedule commitment anyway. I became tired of replacing living room televisions due to him using them as soccer goals so, around 2nd grade, we opted for the one practice/one game per week soccer life around. That sport kept him in shape and showed him a benefit of being pigeon toed. As for me…it was isolating being the only Black family and Michai prayed every Saturday morning for me not to say anything that would cause me to be put off the field.
Around 7th grade I started probing about American football because: 1. He didn’t make the school’s soccer team (it’s much faster on that level and filled with players who practically came out of the womb playing). 2. I knew men’s soccer and football were played during the same season in high school; leaving kicker as the only position for Michai to play. 3. If you know Michai, you also know he does NOT like attention, so the pressure of being the kicker was not on his agenda.
We agreed he would play football in high school, but only if he tried it his 8th grade year, which almost didn’t happen. Although tall, Michai had lost a lot of weight so he absolutely wasn’t going to play 14u. He was too heavy for Jr. Midget, and what we were NOT going to do was weigh in every week. That left 12u, a team he made by the skin of his August birthday. It was much like soccer in that someone questioned his eligibility EVERY week by inquiring about his birth certificate. It was also like soccer because while he didn’t like losing, he was only going to exert just enough effort for the win. 🤦🏾♀️
He liked it. I didn’t. I wanted my one practice/one game per week schedule back. We also witnessed the politics of whomever had the most money, versus the most experience and the best rapport with kids, could be the coach.🙄
Fast forward to high school. Michai was upset when he learned he was going to Mount Tabor instead of West, and y’all already know why West was never an option. After a few practices at Tabor, that began the day after he finished 8th grade, where he witnessed the cheerleaders practicing…he was sold. I tried to tell him to pace himself, but it’s only 3-4 relationships later (that I know of), and now some app where he and his friends are talking to WOMEN at MORGAN STATE, that he’s listening to me.
The season opening game of his final season is Friday. Soon there will be no more practices that end an hour after their scheduled time because the coach preaches a sermon 🙄. No more daily laundry. One benefit of losing my smell to Covid is I don’t go in his room and ask, “Do you not smell that? What’s in that bag? Where are your gloves? Do your cleats need to be washed?” 👃🏾
I will miss interacting with the players and watching them mature. I will miss hearing, “Hey, Momma James.” I will miss asking to see report cards because, “If you can remember all those plays on the field, you can remember to turn in your homework.” 💁🏾♀️
I’m sure Michai won’t miss me yelling his name to take the trash out, and I won’t miss hearing the sad/monotone, “Yeeesss?” It will all soon be the responsibility of the ‘Ar-uh A’ (as my Maternal Grandmother would call them) on whatever campus he lands.
Football is only one chapter. The college application portal opens, and classes at Forsyth Tech begin tomorrow. Even though our last Open House is Tuesday, prayers to the adult Black Jesus and conversations about life won’t stop; they will only get longer and deeper. Like the one where Michai asked, “What is this thing about girls thinking they are the prize and we are supposed to provide everything for them? We are not hunters and gatherers anymore, HELP.ME!” More about that when he returns to the Vlog…🙍🏾🤦🏾♀️😂🤣😂🤣
Until then, send positive energy up and out for all the students, staff and families returning to all levels of education.
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