This year was the first year our middle school offered boys' soccer! Dillon was really excited to play. He very easily made varsity and we heard a lot of positive things about him when we picked him up from practices. He was definitely a favorite. There were a lot of kids that had never played soccer or had minimal exposure, especially because it was a brand new program. He really liked his coach (my coworker). He did get frustrated with his inability to play the entire field. His coach kind of restricted him. Dillon still had his usual patience and played his hardest. He had to miss three games because he wasn't feeling well. Unfortunately, two of those were the last two games of the season. We have very athletically gifted children and Dillon was definitely the best on the team. His good friend CJ came up second. They did a good job given such an unskilled team. Given the time of year the weather was nasty almost every game.
At the end of year banquet, coach had some really great things to say about Dillon.
The coach called him the energizer bunny. Paraphrasing here, I couldn't keep up with the speed he was talking at.
Dillon never wanted to come off the field, even when he was hurt or sick, he wanted to keep going. One game I had to tell him "sit down, you're sick". I asked a lot of Dillon. I promised him no subs. Work as hard as you can, do what you can, stay positive. It's hard to push yourself hard and stay positive when you're losing lots of games. Still, he gave 120-130% all the time. Losing that much, it's hard to stay positive and keep working hard but he did it anyway. Great captain of the team.
Later he was given the only "Falcon Award"
He said that Dillon exemplified hard work, dedication and character. It didn't matter what happened he was always level headed. I don't think anyone could ever have anything bad to say about him as a teammate.
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