After a wonderful game at the Blue Ridge Bowl Sunday afternoon and reflecting on what an awesome season it was coaching the Warwick Warriors C Team's 9 and 10-year-old youth footbal team, I sent this email to our players' parents. Watching these boys grow (probably more than usual) over the past 3 months was amazing and getting to know their parents has made it obvious why these boys are special. The future is bright.
Parents,
I want to thank all of you for an unforgettable football season with your boys. What a special group we had, and what a special group of parents who have shown my family and me such compassion and support during the past month-and-a-half! Your many kind gestures, cards, emails, delicious meals and supportive comments at practice and games have meant more to us than you will ever realize. After being specifically diagnosed (finally) with Stage IV large B-cell lymphoma, lots of additional testing, and then starting IV chemo treatments this past week at Johns-Hopkins, I am now free of the tumor fevers and as of this weekend am getting closer to sleeping through the night for the first time in way over a month. I go back on Tuesday for spinal chemo to keep the cancer out of my central nervous system. I will then continue with the IV and spinal chemo treatments every 3 weeks for 18 weeks to hopefully knock this out for good. My lovely wife, Jessie, set up a blog for anyone who would like to stay updated on the situation. The blog is at http://shawnsprayers.blogspot.com. Jessie has been my rock and the rock of our family, and I'm sure that those of you who have gotten to know her would agree that she is something special.
Enough about cancer. Some observations and thoughts about this year's C Team:
Today, our Black squad represented WMF as the only Warwick team to appear in this year's Red Rose League playoffs. They lost a hard-fought battle against Manheim Township's undefeated, top-seeded Section 1 team by a score of 20-6. Black had an awesome season, finishing second in Section 3 at 5-1 and with an overall record of 6-4. Dave Snyder and the Black assistant coaches put together quite a squad, instilling a gritty, blue-collar, team-first approach in these boys that pushed them to the top of the heap in Section 3, where the only better team, East Pete, was loaded with 10-year-olds. Our Black squad, on the other hand, was made up of all 9-year-olds and a few 10-year-olds who were either first or second-year football players. I could not be more proud of what the Black squad accomplished this season. Way to go guys!
Also today, our Red squad played Ephrata in the first "Blue Ridge Bowl" which was broadcast on Blue Ridge Cable 11 and will be re-broadcast Tuesday night at 8:00pm. WMF fielded teams in the B, C and D Divisions, and league directors from Ephrata and Warwick had agreed to 10-minute quarters (as opposed to 8) and that the first and third quarters would be played by second-string players, with starters playing the second and fourth quarters. This allowed all players to play
and appear on TV for this non-Red Rose League game. Red defeated the Ephrata Mounts 24-6, and we dedicated the game to our 10-year-olds, all of whom said after the game that they want to play on the B Team next year. With this win, Red finished the season with an overall record of 6-4, having gone 3-3 in Section 1.
With its win last week against Oxford, our JV squad finished the season with an impressive record of 6-1. To me, this is just as meaningful as the Red and Black varsity records because it shows that all of our players learned and developed solid football fundamentals this year and were able to successfully test their skills against their opponents. Watching the learning curve ramp-up over the course of the season for our JV players was very rewarding for us as coaches, and I think the players gained a great deal of confidence. Having JV games available was huge for our players and they and the coaches who coached these games had a blast. I want to thank WMF Director Mark Will for putting them together.
Since mid-August, our boys fought like Warriors on the field, and they certainly put in the hard work at practice, where games are really won or lost. I cannot explain how rewarding this season has been and cannot express how privileged I feel to have coached your boys. I could not be prouder of them.
Finally, I want to thank each of the other coaches, team moms, and other coaches wives. They way all of you stepped up during my difficulties and continued to put our players first was very reassuring to me, and I have occasionally been known to be a control freak. You guys put my mind at ease when it came to football and allowed me to focus on dealing with my illness and its related problems. The framed pictures, signed football, yellow LiveStrong bracelets, "Our Boys" book, etc. all were unnecessary, but greatly appreciated and they will be priceless reminders of this priceless season with all of you. Your concern and support have meant the world to me. I also want to thank you for what the coaches did for Jessie after she broke her bracelet trying to get me to quit running onto the field at Solanco the day after my liver biopsy. You guys are the best, and it has been an awesome experience coaching with you this season. Thank you.
I look forward to seeing all of you Wed. night at the banquet, especially now that I know how well some of you cook! It should be a lot of fun, and I will try not to get choked up too much. See you there.
God bless all you!
Shawn
