High School and Youth Football-what it really is all about

I have shot quite a lot of High School and Youth football this season, so much so that I forgot what a bird looks like :redface: . As I have gone through the season I have gotten my share of catches, touchdowns, tackles as well as the good old Referee Butt :wink: , but along with those I have discovered these, what the game is really all about....

From High School Players after great plays:













To the New Olympic Sport of Synchronized Belly Bumping.....


To High School Players having a good time on the sideline:


To Dad on the sidelines, showing the kids how it's done....


To the Little Guys, who are really showing us....








the True Meaning of the Game....


The last image is one of my favorites from this year, I just can't help but smile everytime I see it.

Thanks to the coaches, the parents and most of all the kids....

Hope you enjoy.....

 

Thanks, Frank, and very well said. My favorite, the last one posted, was taken at the beginning of the year and that kid's smile just infected me. These guys start at 5-6 years of age and while they are having a ball, they play through pain just like the big guys. The easiest sports action shots to get are those Referee Butt shots, takes no skill at all, but always happens at the wrong time, and causes a tremendous case of Front-Focus :wink:

 

Thanks, Mike. I shot a 4-day Select Soccer tournament a couple of years ago and when we were doing the trophie shots the Boys-17 team came up. Now these are the best of the best players in the region, incredible athletes, and none of these kids would smile at all, nor would the coach. His comment was that it was a waste of time, since they didn't win 1st place they didn't do anything. What a horrid attitude he had, and what a horrid thing to teach the kids. Makes me think of the people who complain because someone "only" wins a Bronze medal in the Olympics. I don't know about you but I give me left whatever to be good enough to get to the trials :wink:

I can't tell you how many shots I have missed, a late block, a shove, because I didn't keep watching. I started more of that this year and the not only do the shots look really cool, but the kids and parents like them as well. Given that I shoot for the parents, kids and schools, the only thing I don't do is shoot the disappointment after a loss, or at least I don't post those. The kids remember those long enough without needing an image on the school website.

That is interesting regarding the Aperture video, do you recall who the Photog is?

 

Thanks, Gale, definitely once-in-a-lifetime, until next year when I get the next year's version :wink:

Unlike birds I don't have to wait around as long for action, but I do run my butt off a lot. No hanging about in one spot for long, when these guys perch they take off within a minute or two, guaranteed.....

 

Thanks, Terri, much appreciated. It is interesting watching how much less spontaneous these become as the players get older. By college, at least in many of the majors, and especially the pro's, so much of the "after the play" is orchestrated, but not with these guys, especially the little ones.

 

Thanks, Gale, yeah, he was a happy little fellow :biggrin: