Do you know football rules?
Football games were a blast when I was a kid! I’m not quite so sure about those around us! 🤣
Have you ever been to a college football game? You probably know the rules, or at least some of them, right? I’m going to tell you about a time when I didn't have a clue about what was going on during a football game – much to the dismay of everyone around me!
I was in elementary school and my dad was stationed at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. My dad was a brilliant guy and he taught physics to future Navy officers. I was one of the kids who spent many days running freely around the Naval Academy grounds. Oh how I loved running around and riding my bicycle everywhere! I would ride fast down the places we called cemetery and fire station hill.
Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland
I rode my bicycle to the boathouse a lot. When I was at the boathouse, I would sit and watch the sailboats glide by. I loved to sit and sway and feel the rhythm of the rowing teams as they passed. Those rowers were always perfectly in sync.
On parade days I watched row after row of midshipmen in their sharp uniforms march on by. I got so excited as the band approached! Oh, the excitement was endless, but nothing could compare to the excitement of going to the home football games with my friends.
As I remember I am sitting here laughing. 😆 I’m pretty sure we were not the most popular kids in the stands – especially on the visitors’ side, which was exactly where my dad always put us. I told you my dad was brilliant, right? 😂
My friends and I had two huge obsessions at these home football games: (1) continuously yelling for the players to kick the ball and (2) freaking out every time the Navy Goat made an appearance.
About the "kick it" thing … I didn’t understand a lick about football rules and neither did my friends. To us, the game was simple: someone should always be kicking the ball. It didn’t matter if it was a pass, a run, or a huddle. We were up there in the stands screaming at the top of our lungs for almost the entire game, “Kick it! Kick it! Someone tell them to kick it!” We would take a short break and eat a yummy snack, have a drink, and then maybe even grab a 2nd snack. But then we were right back at it shouting our demands once again: “Kick it! Kick it! Why aren’t they kicking it?” I know the people around us had to be thinking, “Why won’t these kids just shut up?!” 🤣 But we were unstoppable. We were absolutely convinced every play should end with a big dramatic kick and we just didn’t understand why they weren’t kicking that football more often.
Next there was the Navy Goat. Oh, how we loved that goat! We didn’t know anything about college mascots, or even why the goat was there. We just knew the goat WAS there, and we knew this goat was really important. Boy oh boy, did that goat get the royal treatment! The moment the Navy Goat showed up, we’d start screaming and cheering, and jumping up and down. We screamed at the top of our lungs as we pointed, “There’s the goat! There’s the goat! Do you see the goat? Do you see the goat? There’s the goat! Look, look, LOOK! There’s the goat! I see the GOAT!” Why the goat was there didn’t matter. That goat was our hero. Meanwhile, the poor visitors sitting around us must have been thinking, “Who invited these kids?” 😆 Remember - we were on the visitor’s side! Sitting here now I continue to chuckle at the remembrance and I understand why my dad always sat us in that section. I do believe he knew exactly what he was doing. Smart man, right? 😆
Ok, so back to today …. I was sitting one day reminiscing. I was thinking about my childhood and I was remembering my dad. I was thinking of all the great things he taught me. I was pondering on all my crazy days running around on the grounds at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and I decided to write a piano piece called, “Bill, the Navy Goat.”
“Bill, the Navy Goat” is now a fun elementary piano solo that lets students learn a little bit about the Naval Academy mascot while enjoying a catchy tune. The piece is part of the Studio Savers Songs About Animals collection and was created to give students more fun music to play. This piece would even be a perfect solo for students to use as a primary choice piece for NFMC festival! While enjoying the elementary piano music about animals, teachers get to add to their studio licensed music libraries.
Bill, the Navy Goat really is an adorable piano piece. It is student and teacher tested. The song includes lyrics and an optional teacher duet. It is written in a lively 3/4 meter and its catchy melody will have you humming along long after your lessons end. With its engaging patterns, it’s designed to be learned quickly, which will keep students excited and motivated without losing momentum. Whether you're prepping for a piano recital, a festival, or just want to have some fun at the piano, this piece will be a hit! Best of all, remember that Bill, the Navy Goat is in a collection that comes with a studio license which makes it easy to share with your entire studio.
Speaking of studio-licensed libraries, remember, having a large collection of resources is a huge win for teachers. When you have a wide variety of studio licensed music at your fingertips, you can regularly hand out new pieces to your students which will keep them motivated and help them improve their reading skills. It’s all about giving students the opportunity to explore fun, fresh music on a regular basis. Then they naturally become better readers along the way. The key is daily exposure to new music. Encourage your students to spend time every single day reading new music in addition to their regular assigned pieces. You can easily do this when you build your studio licensed library.
So, next time you’re looking to spice up your studio’s repertoire, think of Bill, the Navy Goat. It’s a game changer (ha ha, even if I still don’t know all the rules of football)! 😂
