I get focused; it’s going to be a pass to Dad, the star player in all our games.
“Hike!” My brother Sebastian yells.
“Ahhh!” I scream, rushing at him, trying to throw off his pass.
Dad gets the football; no point in trying now. Wait, he tripped over my sister Karmyn. FUMBLE! Yes, sweet victory.
“It’s not over yet,” my dad jokingly threatens.

Family football Sundays are something my family does most weekends. Often times Karmyn and I will claim having too much homework to play, yet my parents will make us.
“Just 15 minutes,” Mom says.
“Yeah Gabby, stop being so boring and come play,” my sister Rachele begs.

I always enjoy playing with my family, yet every single time I try to get out of it. Often times I wonder, what happened? Why is it such a pain to hang out with my family?

Since I became a teenager, I have begun to distance myself more and more from my parents and family. Sometimes, like when playing football, I get to feel like a kid again — my parents know everything and my siblings are not annoying; they are actually fun to be around.

We will all split off into even teams, usually my brother Ian is one team captain; Sebastian another. We always handicap my dad as well, he has to run backwards or he is permanently in the quarterback position; if we do not handicap him he will make every touchdown. I am often referred to as “The Screamer”, because I get excessively into the game and run at people screaming like a madwoman, a reputation I am not particularly proud of.

I remember the days before I went to school when I was only four, when my sisters and I would play house and Barbies constantly; when we would watch “A Bug’s Life” and the same Disney princess movies hundreds of times in a week; when my parents would read Dr. Seuss books to us over and over again; when my dad would make up stories about a magical dwarf named Trumpkin who lived in a treehouse and his other series about a majestic eagle named White-Bottom the Eagle (he lost his tail feathers as an eaglet); and when we would put on our leotards and twirl around like ballerinas in the kitchen. I get to revisit my childhood happiness and relaxed atmosphere on Sundays, even though we play football now instead of imaginative childhood games.

After an hour or so of football outside we often go inside and continue the football day with Madden 2011, which is increasingly becoming my favorite Xbox game. We will play each other, and my family will split up and each root for someone. My team is called the Trojans, in honor of my Greek mythology unit in English.

I always laugh when I think of how setting up Madden 11 my sisters and I are more focused on how “cute” and put together our teams outfits are — orange, purple, and white — as opposed to my brothers who just care about the game. It has always been like that. My sisters and I used to beg Ian to play dress up with us; sometimes he would agree and end up dressed as a princess or a babushka, a Russian grandmother, but as he got older he would refuse and instead go play a more manly game like football. Now he and Sebastian are the ones begging us to play their game, and we are the ones who end up doing something “out of our comfort zone.”

Sometimes we will watch the Chiefs and hope they do well. Whenever they win, it calls for jubilation from my brothers, which is common in the Velez household.
To me, Sundays are just a real relaxing day away from the hectic rush of weekday lives. I love that I do not have to do anything other than just chill with my family.

Yelling, screaming, laughing, and singing all are a part of my family’s daily routine, and playing football in our front yard is one of the ways we connect with each other. It is amazing how just a little football can help me learn to appreciate my family more. I want to be as close to my parents and siblings forever as I am now, because although my friends will come and go in life my family is always here for me.

By Gabriele Velez