They are the only ones who inspire me. I am the only one who inspires them. An eleven man army with numbers on their chests and pads on their shoulders. Eleven who represent the hard work of the less athletic. Eleven strong bodies fighting for each other. From the sideline I can see them, but my heart says I’m with them.

Their strength is physical. They are strong mentally and so are we. They fight and they battle back and we cheer and scream with our loudest voices and by the time it’s zero minutes and zero seconds, we have won.This is how we play.

When one falls, all ten help him up, the sideline cheering as  the eleven man army grinds. Juice, Juice, Juice, they yell as we celebrate. We rally behind them.

When my body is tired and I wanted to rest, they push me to do more. When things seemed like they wouldn’t end in our favor. Eleven men stepped out on the field. Eleven men fueled by the energy of the team behind them. Eleven men did what needed to be done for us, for each other.