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It was a day of mixed emotions for our gorgeous Heather today: she was playing in a local tournament for her rugby team and she knew that sometime today she would be playing her very last game for Caerleon Rugby Team, a team she considers hers.
She played in 3 out of her teams 4 games in the tournament today, and did very well indeed against boys sometimes much bigger than her. The last game, game #4 in particular was where she really excelled, she gave it her very best shot. At one point the oppositions #5 had the ball and came belting towards her expecting Heather to jump out of the way... but oh no... not our Heather. Knowing this was her last chance to make a memory, she stood her ground and quite simply took him out. It was an awesome tackle, I was so proud of my little girl, and she was on a high at that point it was obvious.
However, inevitably and sadly, game #4 drew to an end, and it dawned on Heather than this was her last ever game for her club. Emotions were running high, but gawd bless all the wonderful boys on her team for what they did next. As we all clapped and watched the team come off the pitch, the coach asked Heather to fall to the back, and the boys then proceeded to form a 'team tunnel' for Heather to walk through - leading her off the pitch. I watched from the sideline as Heather spotted what was happening and cottoned on to what her friends were doing for her, and even before she entered 'the tunnel', she started to fill up, the tears followed. Oh it was sad, very sad, I can't imagine the emotions she must have been experiencing.
She walked through the tunnel her wonderful team-mates had made, and as they shouted "three cheers for Heather..." she walked through it in absolute tears, crying, slapping each boys hand on either side as she progressed through, and receiving loads of pats on the back at the same time.
I have to say despite being very sad, that it was a lovely experience, one that I won't forget in a long, long time. The tears soon spread out to many of the other Mums who were there, and of course to Jen too... whom Heather ran up to and gave a her a huge hug. A hug for me followed... as did loads more tears and words of... "I don't want to leave this team Dad...!"
As you can imagine, I didn't manage to get many pics of this as I was quite emotional myself, but managed these few as Heather spotted the tunnel, her tunnel, and proceeded to walk through it.
A day of mixed emotions indeed.
She played in 3 out of her teams 4 games in the tournament today, and did very well indeed against boys sometimes much bigger than her. The last game, game #4 in particular was where she really excelled, she gave it her very best shot. At one point the oppositions #5 had the ball and came belting towards her expecting Heather to jump out of the way... but oh no... not our Heather. Knowing this was her last chance to make a memory, she stood her ground and quite simply took him out. It was an awesome tackle, I was so proud of my little girl, and she was on a high at that point it was obvious.
However, inevitably and sadly, game #4 drew to an end, and it dawned on Heather than this was her last ever game for her club. Emotions were running high, but gawd bless all the wonderful boys on her team for what they did next. As we all clapped and watched the team come off the pitch, the coach asked Heather to fall to the back, and the boys then proceeded to form a 'team tunnel' for Heather to walk through - leading her off the pitch. I watched from the sideline as Heather spotted what was happening and cottoned on to what her friends were doing for her, and even before she entered 'the tunnel', she started to fill up, the tears followed. Oh it was sad, very sad, I can't imagine the emotions she must have been experiencing.
She walked through the tunnel her wonderful team-mates had made, and as they shouted "three cheers for Heather..." she walked through it in absolute tears, crying, slapping each boys hand on either side as she progressed through, and receiving loads of pats on the back at the same time.
I have to say despite being very sad, that it was a lovely experience, one that I won't forget in a long, long time. The tears soon spread out to many of the other Mums who were there, and of course to Jen too... whom Heather ran up to and gave a her a huge hug. A hug for me followed... as did loads more tears and words of... "I don't want to leave this team Dad...!"
As you can imagine, I didn't manage to get many pics of this as I was quite emotional myself, but managed these few as Heather spotted the tunnel, her tunnel, and proceeded to walk through it.
A day of mixed emotions indeed.
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