soccer boy

there was a skinny young boy who loved football with all his heart. Practise after practise, he eagerly gave everything he had. But being half the size of the boys, he got absolutely nowhere. At all the games, this hopeful athlete sat on the bench and hardly ever played.

This teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a very special relationship. Even though the son was always on the bench, his father was always in the stand cheering. He never missed a game.

This young man was still the smallest of the class when he entered high school. But his father continued to encourage him but also made it very clear that he did not have to play football if he didn't want to.

But the young man loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best at every practise, and perhaps he'd get to play when he became a senior. All through high school, he never missed a practise or game but remained a bench-warmer all four years.

His faithful was always in the stands, always with the words of encouragementsfor him.

When the young man went to college, he decided to try out for the football team. Everyone was sure he could never make the team, but he did. The coach admitted that he kept him on the team because he always puts his heart and soul to practice, and at the same time, provided the other members with they badly needed.

The news that he had made the team thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and called his father. His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games.

This persistent young athlete never missed practise during his four years at college, but he never got to play in a game. It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto the practice field shortly before the big playoff game, the coach met him with a telegram.

The young man read the telegram and he became deathly silent. Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, ''Mu father died this morning. Is it all right if I miss practise today?'' The coach put his arm gently around his shoulder and said, ''Take the rest of the week off, son. And don't even plan to come back on Saturday.''

Saturday arrived, and the game was not going well. In the third quarter, when the team was ten points behind, a silent young man quietly slipped into the locker room and put his football ear. As he ran onto the sidelines, the coach and his players were surprised to see their faithful teammate back so soon. ''Coach, please let me played. I've just got to play today,'' said the young man. The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no way he wanted his worst player in this close championship game. But the young man kept  on asking, and finally feeling sorry or the kid, the coach gave in. ''All right,'' he said. ''You can go in.''

Before long, the coach, the players and everyone in the stands could not believe their eyes. This little unknown, who had never played befored was doing everything right, The opposing team could not stop him. He ran, he passed, blocked, and tackled like a star. His team began to win. The scored was soon tied, In the closing seconds of the game, this kid intercepted a pass and ran all the wau for winning touchdown.

The fans broke loose. His teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders. Such cheering you never heard, Finally, after the srands had emptied and the team had showered, and left the locker room, the coach noticed that this young man was sitting quietly in the corner all alone. The coach came to him and said, ''I can't believe it. You were fantastice! Tell me what got into you? How did you do it?''

He looked at the coach, with hears in his eyes, and said', ''Well, you knew my dad died, but did you know that my dad was blind?'' The young man swallowed hard and forced a smile, ''Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him I could do it!''