There was no easy way to ask his mother for permission, so Daniel Abesames-Hammer put it off as long as he could. He had been leaving the house in the afternoon, telling her he was going to visit friends when he was really out learning football so he could try out for the junior varsity team for his upcoming sophomore year.
Abesames-Hammer figured his parents would hate the idea, so he told them as little as possible until it was time to turn in the required waiver with a signature on it. When he finally broke the news to his mother, Elaine Pamaran, she was more than a little skeptical.