As math class ended, Aiden’s teacher asked him if they could visit. “Sure,” Aiden said. “What about?”
“How about we go to my office?” his teacher said.
Besides teaching math, Mr. Hill also taught the science classes, drove the bus, did some janitorial work, was the boys’ athletic coach, and was the principal. It was a very small school, and everyone did multiple things. Because of that, when Mr. Hill asked to speak to you, you never knew what it was about.
After they stepped into the principal’s office, Mr. Hill motioned Aiden to sit down as he closed the door. Mr. Hill then went around his desk and sat himself across from Aiden.
He looked Aiden in the face and smiled. “Aiden, I looked at the football list for this fall and saw that you didn’t put your name on it.”
Aiden nodded. “I’d much rather be fishing and hunting than playing football.”
“That puts us in a bit of a dilemma,” Mr. Hill said. “Having a six-man football team requires six young men and one replacement. Counting you, there are only six young men in the high school who can play.”
“But you just said there had to be seven total,” Aiden said.
Mr. Hill nodded. “Sam is the seventh. You know he has trouble running and walking because of his cerebral palsy. But he has a brave heart and wants to participate. He will be the water boy, my assistant, and the all-around replacement.”
“But how can he be the replacement if he can’t really play?” Aiden asked.
“First, we’ll hope no one gets hurt,” Mr. Hill replied. “If someone does, we’ve worked it out to put him far behind the line of action. If anyone comes his way, and he can’t get out of the road, he knows he is just supposed to drop on the ground. His parents have agreed to it since he wants so badly to be part of the team.”
“I don’t know,” Aiden said. “I was really looking forward to getting a big elk this fall.”
“We have had a team almost every year since six-man football was introduced in the nineteen thirties,” Mr. Hill said. “We’ve almost always brought home a trophy.”
Aiden smiled. “I understand that in some of those years, many of the teams couldn’t get enough players and there were like only two teams in the district competition. Taking second out of two teams is like being a first-place loser. Basically, we couldn’t really have done worse.”
Mr. Hill laughed. “Being your math teacher, I know your logical mind and should have guessed you’d think of that. But the key thing here, Aiden, is not whether we win or lose. We want to win, obviously, but the other boys want to play, and they won’t be able to if you don’t. And there is actually one thing less than second out of two teams.”
Aiden looked at him skeptically. “And just what is that?”
“Not doing it at all,” Mr. Hill answered. “I won’t try to pressure you, but I hope you’ll think about your friends and also how much this one thing brings our little community together.”
Aiden did think a lot about that conversation all evening as he did his chores. His friends had asked him if he was going to sign up, and when he said he was unsure, they didn’t pressure him. He had known most of them since first grade, and they were all his friends. They had always had his back when he needed it.
He thought about Sam, who struggled with so many things yet had the courage to be part of the team. He thought lastly about the community. He had never attended a game himself, but he heard plenty about them after each one was played. Maybe it was time for him to be a team player and be there for the other boys and the community.
Having never seen any kind of football game, he wasn’t sure what he was in for, but the next morning, when he got to school, Aiden put his name on the team list.
(To be continued)
