Personally I never had
To play that hard
Flag football
Did not require
Taping of wrists ankles ribs
Mouth-pieces knee braces
Post game ice packs
Help getting up
And out of bed
The next morning
Shake it off
Back to practice
Our daughter played basketball
First co-ed Boys/Girls club then
Through her second year
At the local junior college
Class scheduling wasn't easy
Away games post season play-offs
San Francisco Sacramento
Berkeley Modesto
Not easy to get in the classes
Needed for her major
Add twenty-two hours a week
As a grocery store clerk
Now you got
A tough schedule
Playing hurt
No big deal
So she told me
Taped up
Mouth piece in
Ready to play
Now married
Buying their first home
Teaching sixth graders
Still a tough schedule
I remember a phone call
From her from Sac State
A month into
Her junior year
Except for intermurals
She decided not to play
To fit in the classes she needed
Laughing she admitted
'Dad, I never realized
How good it would feel
To wake up without
Something hurting.'
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
I'm surprised that this is/was the norm. We have a relatively non-competitive sporting structure at UK schools / colleges / uni's. That is when any sporting activities are available at all. Explains why we aren't any good.