Everyone has that passion that makes his or her heart beat faster. Finding a passion in life comes once in a lifetime. Passions come in many different shapes and sizes. My passion is very unique and unlike any other, but what makes it so unique?

My passion places me among the boys on the sideline of the football field. I imagine most girls cringe at the thought of being around sweaty football players for hours on end. All the nasty, grimy looks given when they see me on the sideline makes it worthwhile. None of the looks or whispers push me away from being a football manager.

Football has always been it for me. A contradicting thought has never crossed my mind about it. It stems back to when I was a little girl and watched my dad coach football every day after school, sitting and wishing I could be a part of it. I’d sit there in sheer amazement at the game before me involving rough teenage boys, tackling and beating each other over a simple leather, brown ball. As I grew older, my love for football grew as well. Finally, as I entered high school, I had a chance to be a part of the team that I dreamt of being a part of for many long years.

Since I’m a girl, one would think dirt, blood, and sweat would disgust me; however, in my case, that assumption would be dead wrong. Dealing with blood, sweat, and dirt are everyday occurrences since we are dealing with a bunch of dirty teenage boys. Friday nights, however, are a totally different story. At the end of the game if I don’t have blood, sweat, water, dirt and even spit on me, something’s wrong. On Fridays, they aren’t possibilities; they’re certainties.

I do more for the team than people realize; for example, I clean dirty, nasty, blood stained, sweaty, smelly, grass-stained football uniforms every week. Grass and blood stains are not easy to get out of anything; needless to say, it involves hours of scrubbing to get the tough stains out. Aside from the bloodstains, making sure the boys and coaches have everything they need for game days is always a necessity. That might seem odd, but some of the boys would forget their heads if it weren’t attached on Friday nights. One of the most important duties that I think we do involves keeping track of the boys’ medical supplies such as inhalers.

Everything I do for the team has made me grow fonder of the game. Aside from the game, I’ve also became attached to players to the point of knowing what they want just by them looking at me. As a matter of fact, some of the boys don’t even have to look at me when they need something; I can just tell by their body language. Some would say that means I spend too much time with the boys, but once again they’re wrong.

I live for cold, rainy Friday nights. From the sidelines, I have a perfect view of the on-going vigorous game on the field. Besides the breathtaking view, the sideline also provides never-ending excitement during football season. Along the sidelines, I hear the clash of helmets as both the teams continuously fight for the ball and the deep grunts made along with the tackles from the players. While I love my view from the sidelines, the weather challenges my faithfulness sometimes. I hate the cold and the rain. I hate them. I absolutely despise rain because it gets everything sopping wet. Then I’ll eventually need to dry everything off. Surprisingly, cold wet conditions don’t bother me during football season as much as they do the rest of the year since I get to cheer on the team and help them in any way I can. Besides my continuous ranting about the weather, I’d still be out there with the team with or without the rain and other weather predicaments. The smell of the fresh cut grass as the rain falls down or hearing the crowd roar after a touch down dominates any other feeling on earth.

I’m not the only crazy girl at my school; there are three other girls like me. Along with managing, I received a second family. These girls and I are like The Brady Bunch when it comes to football. We all have a love for the game and would do anything for any player on our team. Beyond the sidelines, we still maintain our close-knit group.

It’s not just managing that I love; it’s all the people I get to meet in the process. Every time I get to stand along the sidelines with the boys, I think back to when I was a little girl and dreamt about what it’d be like to watch from the sidelines. Now as I stand on the sideline with the fake green grass that fills my shoes with little rubber black balls, I fear to imagine what life would be like without the sidelines.