Sprinting Toward Leadership

My son plays soccer. He is the Goalkeeper for Dexter High School and has been the starter on Varsity both his freshman year and this season. This was a particularly tough season, as injuries and a grueling schedule took its toll on a very young team. At one point this season, four other teams in our conference were all ranked in top 15 in the state, and we had to play those teams twice. With no disrespect to any team we played, in this writer’s humble opinion, the toughest team we played was Ann Arbor Huron. They were incredible. A few weeks ago, they rolled into Dexter for the second of our two scheduled meetings. At the time we played them, they were ranked third in the state. At halftime, the score was 0-0. Our team was playing well, and Thomas made several great saves to keep the game scoreless. Halfway through the 2^nd half it was still scoreless, and the intensity of the game was going up by the minute. Shortly after the halfway point in the second half, Thomas came out to challenge a Huron player who had a breakaway. There was a collision between Thomas, the Huron player and one of our defensemen. Thomas made the save but wasn’t getting up. Slowly, he rose limping and shaking his head. A few minutes later Huron scored and Dexter lost a heartbreaker 1-0. This is where the leadership I mentioned in the title comes in. As the final whistle was blown, I saw someone from the Dexter bench racing to my beaten and battered son. He threw one of Thomas’s arms over his shoulder and began helping him to the bench. One of our team captains saw this and ran over and grabbed my boy’s other arm and they both helped him off the field. I witnessed the most beautiful example of leadership by two of the seniors on our team. One of our two team captains, Dane Barbaro saw what was happening and ran to help. That was amazing, but Dane and his twin brother Andrew led this team all season. They are two of the greatest young leaders I have ever seen on any sporting field ever. But it was the first young man that sprinted out to help my son that left me in awe.

Kyle Gerharter. I started a new paragraph, so his name doesn’t get lost in the print. Kyle is a senior, our backup goalkeeper who didn’t play very much this season. My son took Kyle’s job last season. Please understand, I don’t write that part to brag about my boy. I write that because Kyle is one of my son’s best friends on the team. Kyle is engaged, helpful, supportive and everything a senior leader should be. Seeing him race out to help the kid whose job he took and help him get to the sideline after a tough game is something we should all aspire to be. I write about helping and paying things forward. On that day, I witnessed it, and it was beautiful. Kyle is everything right about high school athletics. Ever since witnessing that moment, Kyle has inspired me to be better. I’ve never seen Kyle without a smile on his face. I’ve never seen him down, although I am certain he has down days. This article is dedicated to Kyle. An incredible athlete who also is on Dexter’s wrestling and track teams, but more than that, A great teammate and person whose selflessness and kindness towards another teammate has made this writer strive to be a better man. Thank you, Kyle!