Tell us your athletic story… |
I played for my high school during my sophomore and junior year. My team was incredibly competitive and only the best of the best got to play all the time. No matter how hard you worked or showed effort it seemed that you never got to see time on the field. I finally got on the field my junior year for a few minutes before the coach pulled me out and told me everything that I did wrong. After that I left football even though I really enjoyed playing it. I didn’t want to have to work hard every single day just to be told that I was wrong in everything I did. |
How did you get yourself or your player through the tough times? |
I kept telling myself that hard work would win the day and get me on to the field but when that didn’t happen I turned to my teammates. The only reason I was able to actually continue to finish my junior year was because my team mates were there to help me through it. |
What is the advice you would give to those currently competing/coaching/supporting? |
I would tell any player to make sure that you are willing to put in the hard work for the sport and not because you want to get out on the field. I think that better coaches would see that hard work and get you on the field more than I did. I would say to coaches that you need to see who is actually working hard day in and day out and give them a chance to play. The game should be about having fun and playing and not just about winning. A lot of us don’t get to play after high school and it would have been nice to be given more of an opppoturnity to do that. |
If you aren’t competing at the collegiate or professional level, tell us how you are handling the The Conversation of “What Now”? |
I am not playing football any longer but the sport did show me how hard I was able to work and I am using that now towards my classes and goal of becoming a software engineer. I now know that I can deal with a lot and handle people that will one day be my boss without a problem. I have started to get involved in working out with other class mates and found that I enjoy it a lot more without coaches yelling and screaming at me to work harder. It helps get out any frustrations I have. |