Boys to Men

Abe
Max 
Jack
Chris
Ryan
Jeremy
simply names to most of you

But those names represent six special sons of my heart, and as I sat during half-time of the KCU Men's soccer game this evening and watched each one walk to the center of the pitch to be honored as a senior, I was celebrating something new and unique. Four seasons of practice and games with these guys. To be honest, as I sat on the sidelines in 2014 there were times I seriously wondered why it was called a Men's team and not a Boy's team.

Freshman year, Sophomore year, Junior year, Senior year
each year brought change to our team-
different faces, different levels of skill, different personalities
each year brought growth and maturity to the team
as each boy grew and matured in different areas

they sometimes fight, like brothers do,
and their bond of brotherhood has been sorely tested and tried
but I am here to tell you, 
it is strong, 
very strong
you mess with one,
you've messed with all of them and you will pay

they came in 2014 as boys who were strangers
there were 14 freshmen that year
6 of the 14 remain
6 who each year pulled the new guys on the team into their brotherhood
these 6 have helped build a strong foundation for the KCU soccer family
the transformation from Boys to Men 
that is what I celebrated this evening (and yes, there were happy sad tears)

2017 KCU Men's Soccer Team