Most kids that grow up playing little league ball have dreams to one day make their varsity squad and play in a state championship. They imagine game winning shots in the driveway and walk off home-runs in the backyard. Most kids one day get to live out this dream of winning. If not in the state championship, then on homecoming, senior night, or a rivalry game.
Kids like me that played football for our school won’t have these memories to share. The memories we hold carry pain, loss, sadness, and defeat. They smell like blood, sweat, dirt and dust in the barren middle school field we practiced on. I feel the judgemental gaze of peers in the stands as I exit the stadium, after spending a second season defeated.
But experiences are worth more than the wins and losses they carry; and the lessons I was taught by the absurd amount of defeat have made me into a person I am proud of after the fact. Most kids in sports don’t feel the pain we experienced, and that is exactly why I’m proud to have done it. Football taught me to be resilient in the face of adversity and challenges in life, to never back down from people that don’t believe in you.
In life, you’re going to be uncomfortable, you’re going to face situations where the odds don’t favor you succeeding. What I learned through my experiences is that the only way you can survive is if you fight these odds, push through these situations with mental resolve and toughness, and never quit on anything you start. I thank my former head coach Brett Bevil for instilling this mentality in me and hundreds of other young players just like me. I would not be in the position I am today without his guidance and inspiration back then.
If I can pass along anything to those who may be in the same shoes as I was, I would say to sign up and play. It’s hard and losing really sucks, but you become a winner in the long run. Don’t let life push you around, stand up and fight for yourself- push through the adversity and those who doubt you. That is how you become great, through relentless pursuit and effort and toughness. Anyone can join a good team that’s guaranteed to win, but it takes heart and grit to sign up to make a change and turn a program around.
