Dear Football Mamas,

Thank you for registering us to play, season after season.

Thank you for helping us to make weight for weigh-in.

Thank you for buying us all of the necessary equipment to ensure we're as safe as possible.

Thank you for taking us to all of our practices.

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Thank you for making sure the fridge is full when we come home starving afterward.

Thank you for filling our water bottles.

Thank you for washing our uniforms.

Thank you for waking up even earlier on the weekends than you do during the work week to drive us across town for our games.

Thank you for cutting up oranges for halftime and buying snacks to feed our teams.

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Thank you for watching us play.

Thank you for always being our biggest cheerleaders, win or lose.

Thank you for wiping away our tears when we feel like we haven't played our best.

Thank you for helping heal our cuts, bumps, and bruises.

Thank you for always having a smile on your face.

Thank you for always being there for us, no matter what.

Thank you for putting your life on hold, for ours.

You're the real MVPs!

Love,

Football Players Everywhere

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Vanessa Mejia is the mother of three football-playing boys, ages 14, 12 and 9, and lives in northern Virginia. Her boys also play basketball, soccer and track and field. Her husband coaches football in the Fairfax County Youth Football League. She shares Team Mom ideas, tips and tricks along with other facets of her family’s life away from the football field. For this blog, she asked her sons and their teammates why they're most thankful for their mothers within the context of football. Read more of her work at https://confessionsofasportsmama.blogspot.com