“Hey Mom!”
Mothers are the Backbone of Sports
It can be seen throughout all major sports from the college level to the professionals. Athletes get their few moments on camera and like clockwork, in seconds they are waving, “hey mom!” From little leagues and on, mothers were the “Team Mom,” buying snacks, picking up players and taking them to and from practice, and buying equipment. Mothers are essentially the backbone of sports. Looking at sports as a whole, where would athletes be without their mothers? Not in the literal since of birth, but rather in the aspects of support, motivation, and encouragement. Even though sports are dominated and promoted mostly by men, mothers are and will continue to be the Holy Grail in sports.
Unfortunately, mothers, black mothers especially, are usually labeled with the negative narrative of over working their sons in as many sports as possible. This to ensure that their sons will be the mother’s meal ticket out. However, those who truly seek joy in watching their sons develop and find the sport they are passionate in, should always be appreciated.
From when I first stepped on a blade of grass in a pair of cleats I was in a constant rotation of baseball and football. I have been involved in sports since the age of six until Nov. 5, 2016, at the age of 22, where I played my last football game as a Maroon Tiger of Morehouse College. Sports has been all my family has ever known. It seemed as if we would only recognize the time of year based on what sport was in season. However, despite the countless practices and game between those 16 years, my mother was there every step of the way. She has sacrificed her time and resources to serve as the team mom for several seasons and provided the fruit, granola bars, Gatorade, and water for games. Regardless of the situation she has made a way to be involved as much as she could. My mother has shown her unyielding support in all my athletic endeavors by making appearances at my games from little league to college. Which required her at times to take long drives to Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina.
Growing up as an athlete has its many highs and lows, from great games to terrible ones, and even the few moments where I was ready to throw in the towel. Either way, my mom was ready to celebrate every victory and found a lesson in every defeat. There was a moment my junior year of high school where getting time on the football field on Friday nights was hard to come by. I thought maybe my had run my course with football, but that was before my mom intervened. Without those words I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to play at the college level had I stopped there.
“Let me tell you this, you have never seen your father and I give up at anything when things got tough,” said my mom. “So as a Bennett man, what are you going to do when things get hard on the field?”
Truth be told, after the cute ages of me playing sports were over, she couldn’t wait for the off-seasons. During the season, there was always games on TV to watch and the conversation about players and teams replaced our conversations regarding our day. She began to cringe at the physicality of football on Friday nights and the toll it began to take on my body. However, most of all, she hated the smell. As a teenager picking me up from practices and the ride home from games had become her nightmares. She hated the smell of grass, turf, sweat, and puberty. Getting in the car from practice she would spray me down with Frebreze, jokingly, and roll the windows down for the rest of the ride home. While I was in high school, there was a house mandate, that I must shower before sitting at the table for dinner. She refused have the smell of football invade her kitchen. Despite it all, as the trooper she is she continued to be the loudest fan in the stands on Friday’s and Saturday’s.
As my time on the fiels has come to a close, her job is not yet over. She is still traveling to and from practices and game to support my younger brother who plays high school soccer. As a sophomore in high school, my mother is two years down, but still has two more to go. The tireless dedication mothers show to support their sons season after season must be appreciated. So, this goes out to all the mothers out there, giving their last to make sure that their sons and daughters can live out their passions as athletes. “Hey mom,” we see you and we recognize you.
Born and raised in Atlanta Ga., Lance Bennett is a graduating senior Kinesiology major and Sports Journalism minor at Morehouse College.
