First Web Article written by Katie Barrett 2003

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The word stirs up many feelings for those who love the game. After two seasons as a club sport, this year the young men at Mount Mansfield Union HS will be taking the field as a Varsity sport. It's hard to describe the pride, excitement, hope and dreams that thrive on the football field as they begin their new season representing the school they attend.

For a few of these young men this will be their first season playing football. For many of them this is just a continuation of their younger years, in which they have been playing since 5th grade in their community league. Learning the game is only a small part of playing football, the other part is playing with pride and integrity. Football is not only a game of muscle, it's a strategic game that teaches them how to adapt to change quickly and to respond easily to create an environment where they have to think on their feet and work as a single unit to accomplish the task at hand. Besides, what a better way to get some stress out then on the field?

The MMU Football club was formed two years ago giving some of these kids an opportunity to play a school sport that they wouldn’t have otherwise joined, and have grown to love! The team even as a club was very successful. Over 40 students joined the team in the first year, with almost all returning the second year with some new players. However, for all of them, this will be their first season recognized by the school as a Varsity sport. Many thought that Mount Mansfield would never be able to have the right to say that they have a high school Varsity football team. All that changed during a school board meeting in which a majority of the football players and their parents showed their support and express why these young men deserved and earned the right as a Varsity team. By the close of this meeting, they were granted that right, it was now up to them to show it was the right decision.

To watch these boys on and off the field is a pleasure. Seeing them at the end of each day sore and tired from a night of running drills, while they still manage to walk off the field with a smile on their face joking and laughing as a team. For most of the players football is a passion, they wake up thinking about football and they go to bed at night thinking about football, it is a never ending dream.

These boys aren’t just practicing and running drills they are working together, and they are communicating as one. Although their communication to an outsider may seem like barbaric grunting, each and every noise and command has meanings that they have learned to understand directing them to a common goal. It's as if they are in sync with each other. On the field they all share the same thought, the same dream and even if they win or lose, they get right back out on the field and try again and again...joking: Lets getter' done!

As we watch our boys enter the field all padded up, with their shoulder pads making it seem as if they have no neck, striding with confidence and intimidation, we watch as the other team try not to show signs of fear. You can see the look on our boy’s faces, and you know right then and there, that they have worked hard to get where they are now. They have worked hard and earned the right to be a Varsity team.

Article written by Katie Barrett (MMU Graduate 2002)