Reggie's football highlights

Reggie's 10th grade season was a busy one.  It started out with the Royal Maker.  The Royal Maker was a 12-hour-long day of intense physical activity and competition.  They were divided into schoolyard-picked teams of six, and at any time during the day if they wanted to quit, they would have to ring a bell.  No one quit, and Reggie's team won! Their prize was going out for a steak dinner with one of the coaches.

Reggie played wide receiver on offense and safety and outside linebacker on defense. Reggie was on the dress list for both the 10th grade team (#18) and the varsity team (#19). That meant two games a week for the parents, too. There are rules about how much a high-schooler can play in a week - I think it is 6 quarters.  He was 2nd or 3rd in the depth chart on varsity so he would play the full 10th grade game and sometimes barely see the field in varsity games.  Toward the end of the season, there were so many injuries on the 10th grade team and JV team that they combined the two teams.  Then, Reggie only played varsity and got a little more playing time.

 

For the last couple of years, we have played against our big rival, East Ridge, at TCO Stadium - the Vikings' practice field.  This year was very fun because we won. 😉At the end of the night, the teams came together in the middle of the field, and there was a student-led prayer.

The Royals were co-section champs and lost to Moorhead in the quarterfinals of the postseason. Moorhead went on to play in the state championship game and fall to Edina.

SOMN flag football

SOMN Flag Football is so much fun and the team went undefeated this season!  Brett is an amazing quarterback, and Lydia does a great job of uplifting all the athletes on the team.  They keep it exciting and competitive!

 

Here is the link to the highlight video.

Interested in supporting the work of Special Olympics?  Make a donation to my Frozen 5K fundraiser!

Reggie's Football Highlights

I'm still working my way through the fall sports, so here are Reggie's football highlights.

This is Reggie's first year of playing football through the school.  Our highschool is in Class AAAAAA, which is largely based on enrollment.  6A is mostly the biggest and most competitive schools in the state, and while Woodbury is big (around 2000 students), it is not particularly a powerhouse when it comes to any sports.  Similar to volleyball, football has 5 teams: Varsity, JV, 10th grade, 9A and 9B). But unlike volleyball, there can be movement among the rosters throughout the season, and there are no cuts.

Reggie played almost exclusively on the 9A team.  On offense, he played as a receiver/tight end and on defense he played outside linebacker.  In the white jerseys he was #6 and in the blue jerseys he was #24. His team had a tough schedule and went 3-5 with wins to Roseville, Mounds View, and East Ridge and losses to Stillwater, White Bear Lake, Forest Lake, Prior Lake, and Eden Prairie.  In the post-season, the varsity could add to their roster, and Reggie was called up to their practice squad.  He got to dress for their game (they only had one 😉) but didn't get to play.

Reggie received the 9th grade Leadership and Attitude Award and the Defensive Player of the Year Award (voted by his team). While there are enough good players who can catch and run the ball, no one on the team tackles with as much power and reckless abandon as Reggie.  I attribute that to his innate personality - and wrestling! He was invited to the varsity off-season workouts, and he has been told they will have a spot for him in the starting lineup next fall if he can put on 15 or 20 pounds.

Ironically, he is currently trying very hard to stay at his current weight for the varsity wrestling lineup, so the weight-gaining efforts are on pause!

Here is the link to the highlight video.

Reggie's football reel

"Reel" instead of "Highlights" due the big lowlight that has already been shared on the blog. That footage is included in the video. It's not graphic. But I put off putting this video together because I was avoiding the trauma of watching it.

About a month ago Reggie underwent a second surgery.  When his fractured ankle healed, the growth plate filled in, but the other three (left and right ankle) were expected to continue to grow.  This uneven growth was likely to create problems in the future, so the solution was to have surgery on both ankles to stop his growth at those growth plates.  As a result, he will be about a centimeter shorter than he would have been had he not fractured his ankle!

The surgery went well overall.  It was a more specialized procedure so it was at the children's hospital.  We are so fortunate to be only twenty minutes away from this kind of medical care!  I warned every person I talked to that Reggie comes out of anesthesia a bit crazy and with the strength of a grown man.  No one took me very seriously.  When the doctor came to update us on how surgery went, a couple of nurses came through the waiting room saying, "That was wild."  Later, we were informed that Reggie woke up "a little wild" so they sedated him again and he slept it off.  Unfortunately he remembers being pushed/held down, and then going back to sleep. Yet he had to be kept safe so I don't know how it could have been avoided.

We were told Reggie would walk out of surgery and technically he did, but the first week of having both ankles disrupted was very difficult. He is feeling almost better now.  We are hoping for good news at his post-op next week so he can return to sports. He really needs to return to sports!

Here are the highlights.  Football is what Reggie loves the most, no hesitation.  He played both linebacker and tight end, and he is dynamic to watch.  I think as he plays more, he will be driven toward being a defensive player.  But until then, it is so fun to watch him make the big catch and run into the endzone! He scored 10 touchdowns, made 4 interceptions, and so many tackles.  The team ended the season 9-2.

In the video, you will see some of my standard videography skills, and some clips Reggie wanted to include from his team footage.  Those clips are marked by the little play symbol as he screenshotted it from the app.

SOMN softball and flag football highlights

Special Olympics softball is a fun but short season with only one competition - the Summer Classic Games.  We are so very spoiled that this event- and also the state flag football event- are hosted in our city!

Brett usually plays 3rd base, and Bryan is one of the coaches for his team. Brett is a good hitter, and he's looking forward to joining the high school's adapted softball team (Thunderbolt's) this spring!

Unified sports are one of my favorite things about Special Olympics.  It brings people who might not typically interact in daily life together and uses the shared enjoyment of athletics as a way to build relationships and uplift the movement of inclusion.

In unified flag football, three athletes and two non-disables "unified partners" play on the field at the same time.  There are many rules about who can do what on the field in an effort to keep the focus on building up and supporting the athletes.  The main and obvious rule is that a unified partner can't pass the ball to another unified partner.  As you watch the video, you can see how the unified partners from BOTH teams are working to create an experience where the athletes get to shine - while still enjoying the true spirit of competion.   

Brett loves being the quarterback but gets to play all the positions.  Lydia was a unified partner for a second year and we also recruited Bonnie's son, Matt.  He was a great addition to the team!   

Next weekend we will again be participating in the Frozen 5k and Polar Plunge to raise money for Special Olympics Minnesota!  We have a team - the Oreo Dunkers.  It's the five of us plus Bonnie and Taylor.  We named our team the Oreo Dunkers because Brett loves oreos so much that he named his guinea pig "Oreo" and he also has aspirations to someday dunk a basketball.  Visit our page to contribute to our fundraiser!

Reggie's football highlights

We felt a little whiplash going from last year's football season to this year's season.  Last year Reggie's team lost every game except one non-conference game.  After WAA's first win, we all lavished a little in the strange feeling of victory.  Well it turned out that Reggie liked to win, and his team went on to win every game of the season.  

There was only one close game - against Stillwater.  In that game, Reggie played almost the entire game.  The rest of the games, Reggie would usually play offense until they were 3 touchdowns ahead (usually the first half) and then they would put in the second string. He would still get some defensive playing in the second half.

I'm excited about this team because they had a great quarterback and many players who could make the plays necessary to win.  They also had a great kicker (when he wasn't playing soccer 😉).  Of all the 7th grade football we watched, our team was the only team that ever attempted kicking for the extra point!  

Yes, there's talent, good coaching, and hard work. All of which there was more of than last year's team at OAA. Bryan always talks about the mental aspect of sports.  Last year, it felt like the team stepped on the field expecting to lose.  This team expected to win, and did!  

Reggie waited all season to play against his buddies in Oakdale and finally got the chance in the post-season.  They had a pretty good year, too.  Moving is hard.

Another strategic move our organization made that we think secured success was the size of the team.  There were 39 players.  Many organizations chose to create two smaller teams to guarantee more playing time for each player.  However, this ended up weakening the teams.  The surprising result of keeping the 39 players together as one team was first string tended to play the first half and second string tended to play most of the second half. (Last year OAA only had 20 players on their team.)

With football starting in August, it was great for Reggie to start out at his new school with friends.  He says there are football players in every class, on the bus, and in his lunch.

I hope they stick together for some really exciting highschool football in a few years!

flag football highlights

This was the first year since Covid that Brett managed to get in a real full season of flag football.  He decided to play with the Blazing Stars.  Lydia got recruited to be a unified partner.

Some Special Olympics sports are unified sports.  Unified sports are designed to encourage inclusion by providing opportunities for disabled and non-disabled peers to enjoy sports together. Using the avenue of sports, people of varying abilities can come together, learn from each other, and build community through relationship.  The mission is bigger than just playing games and giving people with disabilities opportunities...it's revolutionary. 

Unified Flag Football is played five-on-five on a 40 yard field.  At all times there are 3 athletes and 2 unified partners on the field.  It is the unified partners' goal to uplift the athletes.  There are lots of rules like a unified partner cannot throw the ball to the other unified partner.

We were set up in a bracket of four teams.  The first game was a good matchup. It was close, but the Blazing Stars won.  The second game was for the championship.  While our team had two unified partners who were teenagers with average athletic ability, the opponents' unified partners looked like they were college athletes!  The Blazing Stars were up against goliaths and didn't stand a chance.  But they played hard, had fun, and built community. 

Mission accomplished!

Reggie's football highlights

Many programs in our area start doing tackle football as early as third grade.  Reggie has been waiting and waiting for us to allow him to play, and we have been waiting and waiting for him to develop some "self-preservation" skills.  Well I guess you could say we got tired of waiting!  Bryan started playing tackle in sixth grade, and so we decided that was well enough.

Reggie played for our city league because it wasn't offered at the middle school.  He landed on the 7th and 8th grade team.  The director and coach was our kids' t-ball coach, lives in our neighborhood, and has a son in Lydia's grade.😉  Bryan ended up being the assistant coach.  He promises this is the last time!

The highlight of the season was definitely stumbling into the opportunity to play at US Bank Stadium.  It turned out to be their only win of the season!  

I was kinda hoping Reggie would decide he hated football, but that didn't happen.  It is not my favorite sport to watch him play, but maybe it will grow on me.  This year, he played both offensive and defensive positions.  I definitely prefer watching him do the hitting!

Brett's football highlights

After a relatively normal softball season, we had high hopes Special Olympics flag football would follow suit.  Brett had a few practices before our state case numbers reached a level that Special Olympics MN shut down contact sports.  Instead, it held a Pass, Punt, Kick event for the second year in a row.  

On a positive note, Brett earned back-to-back gold medals in this event!