“How am I supposed to count on a guy who can’t finish sprints? Who can’t give the effort to be great?” our new seventh grade football coach screamed into my facemask, spitting in anger. This was my wake up call. To this very day I have the same coach, and I still have flashbacks to that moment when he challenged me like I had never before been challenged. This 30 seconds would change who I am forever. When I was in seventh grade we were introduced to our new head coach, Steve Poff. No one knew much about him other than me, and the only thing I knew was that he played some high school football with my uncle and was supposed to be a “psycho.” This all changed when we started playing for him. We learned that he was a perfectionist who …show more content…
My teammates started to all realize one by one that it was time to man up. From this day forward no one ever quit sprints again, and I guess in this sense I finally felt like a leader amongst my peers.
Some of my teammates, who may not have had the same experience and been challenged the way I was, have let this attitude toward football die. The reason I have not and never will let it go is because I look at it as more of a way of life. I go about my business wholeheartedly, and with the intention of never having to ask myself, “What if?” I think if you are not willing to give something all that you have, then it is not worth doing at all.
Today, when I am faced with adversity I always have this flashback of Coach Poff’s challenge to me. Whenever my job gets hard and it seems like it would be better if I would just quit, whenever Coach Poff runs us now for making little mistakes in practice, or whenever schoolwork seems overwhelming and it would be easier to not do it, I find a way to get through it and be successful. Like Coach Poff continues to preach at practice, “Your life will be what you make it. The work you’re willing to put into anything parallels what you will get out of it, and let me assure you that it’s always worth
In life, you encounter many situations and people that aid in molding you into the person you are meant to be. When these instances in time occur, we may not realize it, but looking back they made a huge impact on our lives. For the past four years, I have been a member of the Navarro Runnin’ Lady Panthers Basketball Team, and while the sport itself taught me many lessons and skills I can use to be successful, there was one coach that managed to do the same.
In third grade I began my first official Sheridan sports team. I was now officially making my way to becoming a general; before that I didn’t have any idea of what being a “general” meant. At the time I was attending Thornville elementary and the majority of my friends at my school were just as pumped as I, for our first practice on the field beside the infamous Sheridan Middle school. The first few weeks of practice taught me nothing I wanted was going to be easily attainable, these coaches expected more out of me than I had ever been accustomed to. The bar they set for us each day pushed us to new heights we had only dreamed of.
At New Milford High School, I will belong to the community of Green Wave football for the duration of my life. As a player, my footprint is not simply measured by the amount of wins our program had during my three years on varsity, but it is measured in the complete revolution of the program under Coach Badaracco’s direction. My freshman year, the football team was a bit of a joke, a meeting ground of players who lacked dedication and work ethic, who continuously were being suspended from school, doing drugs, and partaking in other nefarious activities. When Coach Badaracco was hired, he looked to me to lead. He continuously asked me to display what a proper athlete should look like, someone who excelled in the classroom and was active in the community.
It is human nature that every day we are forced to overcome an obstacle, an obstacle that we may see as a failure. It is the lesson that we take away from that failure that contributes to our success as individuals. Our success stems from our willingness to overcome failure. One quote that helps to reinforce this idea comes from Vince Lombardi who said, “The difference between a successful person and others is not the lack of strength, lack of knowledge, but the lack of will.” After facing a tough loss early in the season, the Middletown Lions football team had to rally and overcome our failures to get back on track for a successful season.
Surprisingly, the coach was a fourth grade teacher, and did a great job connecting with his students. However, once he got in his football coach mode, all bets were off with him. He had a strong desire to be right, and to be the only voice in the room. He would go as far to withhold film from other assistant coaches until after he developed a complete game plan by himself. He was also very hard on athletes, and showed no interest for connecting
In the life of sports, it is often said that one doesn’t choose the game, but that the game chooses the person. When it comes to athletic talent, I don’t believe God blessed me with it, at least, not naturally. But, ever since I was young, the gifts with which I have been blessed are determination and drive – to accomplish whatever I set out to accomplish. And, while football didn’t choose me, I chose it.
When I first started attending Manlius Pebble Hill, I didn't think that athletics would develop into a large part of my life. During my sophomore year I was granted the opportunity to take part in one of the greatest learning experiences in my life. The school had just hired a new basketball coach, and he came with the intentions to change our view on athletics at MPH. In the preceding years we had a record of about three wins, out of sixty games, and had somewhat given up hope on the notion of ever winning. However, when Coach Ike came he implemented lessons that would help nurture our love of basketball, and help us to become a successful team. He taught us how to ply together, and how to put the team and school we play for ahead of ourselves.
That day, I met a group of 13 boys, out of shape, lacking fundamentals, but willing to learn. I, along with a few other former teammates, understood that we needed to push these kids to their physical limits, and ran them until we felt tired. The other coaches I worked with were both around the same age as me, but all came from different schools, granting us a multitude of drills to guarantee sure the kids advanced as fast as possible. Although our viewpoints on how to manage the team may have differed at times, we had the same common goal, making these boys better at baseball. However, through drilling younger kids and teaching them fundamentals, I also learned some valuable
That day, I met a group of 13 boys, out of shape, lacking fundamentals, but willing to learn. I, along with a few other old teammates, understood that we needed to push these kids to their physical limits, and ran them until we got tired. The other coaches I worked with were both around the same age as me, but all came from different schools, granting us a multitude of drills to make sure the kids advanced as fast as possible. Although our viewpoints on how to manage the team may have differed at times, we had the same common goal, making these boys better at
Football’s a curious sport. Every joule of energy dedicated is repaid in valuable character lessons, but these lessons are accompanied by assumptions and expectations. Expectations that football players are daft, narcissistic meatheads lacking the neural plasticity to grasp the simplest of topics. In defying assumptions on the field, I have done the same in my personal life. I am unconventional; a football captain who tutors his peers on Thursdays, and catches touchdown passes on Fridays. I have found an uncommon niche as a well-spoken leader in academia, athletics and the social realm.
My experiences with my high school’s football team had begun some four years earlier, as an eighth grader. I was approached one day at lunch by a high schooler interested in knowing whether or not I wanted to try out for the freshman team in high school. Although I had no knowledge or previous interest in football, I was big, and thus a desirable candidate for the team. I decided to join out of curiosity.
Football has always been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. As the youngest of four boys, I watched all three of my older brothers’ play from the side of the field. I never wanted to miss a single game. I would run right along with them, watching every move and play that they made. I will hold these memories for as long as I live. I always knew that I would be out there someday playing, but until then, I would settle for cheering them on. When the day finally came that it was my turn to get out there on that huge, open field and run my plays, I had a feeling that I had never experienced before. I felt a rush from my head to my toes, and all of a sudden, I was focused on nothing but playing the game. I was there for one thing and one thing only, to play my hardest for my team and make my brothers proud. To this day, when my feet hit the field, I still have that same awesome feeling. I finally understood why they would get excited, yelling and jumping around and now I could join in on those fun times with them. They have taught me so much about the game. If it weren’t for them, I definitely wouldn’t be the player that I am today. I could never tell them how much I
Learning a novel skill can be petrifying. The hardest commodity I had to learn is football. When I joined the team freshman year, I didn’t realize what I was getting into. Even though I had been playing since fourth grade and knew it was hard work, nothing would prepare me for the effort I would put into football that year. (James, 5). We worked all summer in the weight room and ran on the track to get in physical and mental shape before the season. I was afraid of not making the team, but I like football so I decided to learn it more. Furthermore, I also like that a good workout can be helpful for me to be physically strong. (Freudenrich, 10). Even though I am thinking a lot about these obstacles, I did not know it would make me a confident
“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” Growing up with anxiety wasn’t an easy thing to deal with during my years of high school. From the weight loss to the nightmares to physiological problems I was dealing with. I asked myself “why me” and why did I have to experience so much right now. Sometimes I thought God was punishing me. I always thought that my life was worse than others and that no one understood me. I realized my life isn’t all that bad compared to others who had it even worse than me. Also, the path I’m walking isn’t an easy one. It made me realized that life and things aren't handed to you and you have to fight and overcome obstacles just like a warrior.
For a lot of kids, it’s not until it’s all said and done, and they look back on it several years later, that they realize the difference the sport made in their lives. They are proud of playing the game. Have you ever met anybody who accomplished playing four years of high school football, and at the end of that run said, ‘Man, I wish I wouldn’t have played’? It doesn’t get said. Football players aren’t perfect. Nobody is. But millions of former players, one by one, can recount the life-altering principles they learned from football. They know the value of football is the values in football.That’s why high school football – and particularly high school coaches – play such a vital role in our society. Our football coaches are on the front lines of the battle for the hearts and minds of the boys in our society.