BV Lynx football moms get their ‘game plan’ on by putting on pads, helmets

Things are cranking up for the Brandon Valley football team, now just three weeks from its opener, but they also made time for some fun when head coach Matt Christensen invited all of the moms to an evening practice last Monday.

After a light practice for the team, moms of the Brandon Valley players met in the weight room for a short briefing from Christensen.

“They know their sons best, so I have to remember that,” Christensen said. “Every kid is important. To that mom, that kid is everything.”

While in the weight room, Christensen said it was an opportunity to make contact with the moms, let them know how appreciated they are, and what can be expected for the upcoming season.

“I try to make sure they understand we’re a committee of guys committed to creating the best team we can create, and that includes zero promise of playing time,” he said. “I just have to make that clear. Some misconceptions are that as a senior, you get to play. That just isn’t the case. As kindly and as friendly as I can, I also tell them that does not indicate their son’s value to the team. There’s no correlation between playing time and value to the team. They’re all equally valuable.”

Christensen said as a staff, they show that value to every player through Brandon Valley’s actions. As an example, many times throughout the season, a player that gets zero playing time gets to carry the BV flag onto the field.

“We show it, we don’t just say it,” Christensen said of making everyone equally valuable.

Christensen also took the weight room moment to thank the moms for their sacrifices during the season.

“Thank you for washing their clothes, and driving them to places, and buying their cleats, and supporting us,” he said.

And then the fun really began. Unlike in year’s past where the moms were taken to separate classrooms to learn certain aspects of the game from each position coach, Christensen and his staff outfitted the moms in pads and helmets. Christensen gave each mom a name on the front of their helmet, written in black Sharpie on a piece of athletic tape. The names ranged from Mean, Meaner, Meanest, Tuff, Tuffest, Dawg, Most Fire, Most Lit, and Most Rugged.

“It’s just to get the kid to grin, and the mom to be suspicious, but included at the same time,” Christensen said.

From there, it was outside to the pole vault pit where the massive padded cushions sat awaiting the festivities.

Each mom had the opportunity to tackle their son onto the cushioned landing surface.

“I think the moms found the breakout sessions just too much,” Christensen said. “The football terminology can be a little overwhelming. When I mention play calls or terminology, it demonstrates that there’s way more to it than just collisions. So, we made it a little more fun.”

Before the event began, Christensen met with his full roster of 9th-12th grade players. He made it very clear that the event with their moms was not to be taken lightly. It was also apparent that the players were buying in with several nods throughout the talk.

“This is not an event to be made fun of, or to be made inappropriate,” Christensen said. “This will be held in the highest regard.”

Christensen said he got the idea of a mom’s night during the preseason from other programs posting about it online. This year was the fifth straight of such an event at Brandon Valley.

“The moms are not to be taken for granted,” Christensen said. “Parenting is the hardest job in the world. No one’s perfect at it, but if you’re present, and you’re trying, and you’re making all the efforts to provide experiences and resources to help people grow, that’s the most respectable thing that society needs us to do.”

Christensen also talked to the moms about how football is an extension of the high school, school district, and the community.

“It just happens to be a 100-yard classroom,” he said of the football field. “It’s a privilege to play, and not everybody is physically blessed in the ways that football rewards. It’s fortunately, or unfortunately, society’s tendency to over highlight football. I just want to make sure that if our players get a lot of credit, that they’re earning it and then doing awesome things in the classroom, and in the school culture, and in the town and with their families.”