Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Little Big Men

From the sidelines and the stands, they look out of perspective on the local high school football field. Despite the added dimensions that helmets and pads provide, youth football players still don't look all that big...they don't cover as much ground as senior players do under the Friday Night Lights. But when a camera shutter is able to catch them at key moments of a game...they look every much the part...they are an emulation of "the Pros."

Throughout the youth football ranks and ages, player sizes range from "more uniform than there is kid"...to "we don't have a jersey big enough for that kid"...and all sizes in between. The common denominator is the size of each athlete's heart...it's BIG. Abilities also vary in the youth game...but no matter what, the kids give it all they've got...week in, week out. One of the greatest compliments I ever received for my sports photos was from an ecstatic father who understood that his child is one of those kids that doesn't exactly dominate the first string line-up. He said, "Wow! You were able to make my son look like a real football player...Thank you, thank you so much!" I was humbled...all I did was capture the moment where his son actually did look like a real football player. How the perspective of things change when we look at them differently.







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