❤️ Message received from a Parent ⤵️ 🗣️I've been meaning to write this for weeks but every time I start I end up getting emotional. A few weeks ago my son played his last game for his junior club and, if im honest, I dont think its fully sunk in yet. He started grassroots football at 9 years old and now he's 16. Somewhere between those years of muddy boots, freezing Sunday mornings, lost kit, car journeys and standing on the touchline in the rain, a little boy grew up. Football changed him. Like a lot of boys, he had a temper when he was younger. He'd get frustrated, upset with himself and sometimes carry things around with him. Football gave him somewhere to put all that energy. It taught him discipline, respect, resilience and how to keep going when things didnt go his way. But this post isnt really about him. Its about the coaches. The volunteers. The people who give up evenings after work, weekends with thier own families and countless hours of thier lives so kids can play football. People see a coach for 90 minutes on a matchday. What they dont see is everything else. The planning, the messages, organising pitches, sorting kit, dealing with problems, encouraging kids when confidence is low and picking them back up when things havent gone to plan. Without those people my son would not be where he is today. Not even close. I've read so many stories over the years about pushy parents and touchline drama and trust me, we've seen our fair share of it. Parents shouting instructions, parents arguing, parents living through thier children. Sometimes it was hard to watch. My approach was always simple. Let him play. Let him enjoy it. Let him make mistakes. Let him decide what he wanted from football. Because at the end of the day, its thier journey, not ours. What always stood out to me was how much difference encouragement made. A coach believing in a child can honestly change everything. Sometimes one kind word at the right time can keep a kid playing when they were thinking about giving up. My son is now doing really well and looking forward to A levels, and of course im incredibly proud of him. But I know none of it happens without grassroots football. So from one very grateful mum, thank you.