It’s amazing how time flies.

My son Bradley just completed his sixth season of youth football and it really seems like it was yesterday when he put that green uniform on and stepped onto a football field for the first time at the peanut level. They didn’t keep score (although some of the parents did!) and it was very instructional in nature but it was amazing to see.

Six years later, there are so many emotions that my wife and I have experienced with him on the gridiron with most of them being very positive. In fact, even with so much negativity about injuries, there are a number of reasons to be thankful to be a youth football parent.

• Your child is growing up. Not so say that kids don’t learn from other sports or from other aspects of life, but there’s something about playing football that lends to the maturity of a child. Football is a physically demanding sport so Bradley has been able to develop some toughness over the years. He’s also learned a lot about teamwork, leadership and discipline. I’ve had friends who have had their kids play youth football tell me how important it was in shaping their lives. I’m seeing this first hand with Bradley.
• Learning how to win and lose. After two years of peanuts, Bradley has played four years of competitive travel football in an actual league. Over three seasons at the pee-wee level and one year at the midget level, Bradley has experienced a mix of winning and losing. He’s been on a team that won a championship, suffered through a couple of losing seasons and also experienced the joy of a 10-2 season that included a heartbreaking playoff loss. The spectrum of emotions will prepare him for the future.
• Friends for life. When you step onto the football field, the entire team becomes your family. Now you’re never going to have 25 players all being buddy-buddy with each other, especially when you’re talking about nine and ten year olds. But when you play youth sports, especially football, you create friends for life and Bradley has created a good number of them already.
• Being part of a football family. While the kids grow into a family on the field, the parents do so off the field. During the course of six years, my wife and I have been lucky to meet some great people because of youth football. Between practices, games and other functions, youth football has also given the siblings a chance to make friends and have some fun.
• Community pride. Aside from happens on the field, a very important part of the youth football experience for players, coaches and parents is how it represents the community. Since we’ve been involved with our team, the Levittown Red Devils, the program has been a big part of local community. We’ve conducted fundraisers, marched in the town’s Memorial Day Parade and been featured by local media outlets including multiple Game of the Week appearances on a local television station.

When my son’s season came to an end a couple of weeks ago, a lot of things came to mind. There was, of course, disappointment that the season was over but there were other things to consider. There were a lot of “goodbyes” and “see you soons” as the parents, coaches and players made their way home that night. But because it’s a football family, there will be get-togethers during the off-season like a team party, awards night and other functions. Teammates that go to the same school will see each other and families that because close will try to make plans to get together.

I’m thankful for all of these things but most of all that my son Bradley loves to play football and has used the experience to grow as a player, young man and a member of his community.

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

Peter Schwartz is an anchor and reporter for the CBS Sports Radio Network. He also writes a CBS New York sports blog athttp://newyork.cbslocal.com/tag/peter-schwartz/. You can follow him on Twitter @pschwartzcbsfan. Peter’s son Bradley plays for the Levittown Red Devils of the Nassau Suffolk Football League on Long Island in New York. His son Jared cheers on Bradley and then Bradley returns the favor when Jared is playing soccer.