First-game dad’s nerves

THE job is a long way from over for most parents after they wish their sons and daughters good luck and go look for a coffee.

Many, particularly those watching players on debut, are left powerless on the sidelines and often parents leave games as emotionally drained as the players.

Having given up his usual attire as the team runner because he was unsure how he would react on the field, Paul Whyte was a clearly nervous figure on Saturday as he waited for son Harrison to debut for Grovedale.

At only 16, Harrison showed signs of a bright future for the Tigers, but an early collision that left star Jackson Sheringham bleeding from the head barely settled the worried onlookers.

“I think his mum’s heart would have been in her mouth when that happened,” Paul told Kix FM.

“Having played a lot of football myself, you expect collisions but when it’s your own son at 16 playing against grown men it can be quite frightening.

“At the start, I could feel my legs shaking when I was watching him, I was that nervous.”

Players naturally fall into focus on the task ahead once the ball bounces on game day but it isn’t so easy for the loved ones behind the fence.

Hours on hours of teaching kids how to kick, supporting them through poor form and shuttling them back and forth from training and matches can all come to the surface as a son or daughter goes in for a hard ball.

For most of us, parents are the ones who first introduced us to football and can genuinely be the reason we fall in love with our game.

Consider the most concerned onlookers at each game and the journey they have helped the players through and don’t ever mention the possibility of injuries.

— JOSH BARNES