Personal Narrative: Pike High School Football

High school football over the years has become a huge spectacle lets just talk about the DWF area or we can even get smaller to make a point if you made a 25 mile radius these local high school teams play at the Star (seats 12,000), Allen stadium (seats 18,000 cost 60 million), and McKinney’s new stadium (seats 12,000 costs 69.9 million). This is just high school football these young kids playing under tremendous pressure from the start. The pressure to play high school football is immense, there are so many media outlets for these kids, and they get coverage from what it seems like all the time during the season, yet this is all just considered a recreational activity I think it has become more than that now. The pressure for coaches is high as well dealing with parents, board members, keeping up with classes as a teacher, and oh you also have to win since football is a performance-based business (forewarning this will be said a lot). For example I will refer to Boobie Miles from Friday Night Lights for one final point. Boobie knew if he did not make it in football there was nothing special for him. That is why when he got hurt he still wanted to play, because he knew that’s all he had. That is a lot of pressure for a 16-18 year to handle, and if they are not up for it they crack.

Football isn’t just about going on the field and playing 4 quarters against another team every week. It’s not just those Friday nights going to watch your high school team play. Football is a brotherhood, it’s your second family. It’s making memories that you will have with you for the rest of your life. It’s the hours of preparation, sweat, tears, blood, bumps and bruises and going back out everyday just to give it your all. Football isn’t just a game that i’ve played it’s something that has shaped me into the person I am today.

The day the team got together and fought threw a tough battle facing pinnacle high school. It was our second home game and our record was 1-2. After all of the hard work we had put in over summer, we realized we could not lose, especially in front of our home crowd. At the beginning of the game we did our usual warm-ups, I have never felt so much adrenaline pushing threw my veins in my life. After the warm-ups the whole team got in a big huddle, we chanted a chant that will never be forgotten and one day make history for the pride. After the chant we got ready for kick-off, lined up and ready to go. The crowd started cheering at the first 2 seconds of the game “go pride go, go pride go”. This made the whole team nervous, not just because there was so many

In November of 2014, my team and I made it past the first round of the LHSAA Division AAAA playoffs after defatting the number twenty-eight seed, Belle Chase High School. After finishing a very good regular season with a record of 10-2, we went into the playoffs surprising everyone as the number four seed. After the winning the first round in style, we found ourselves matched up with defending state champs from the season before. On this defending state champ team, they possessed some of the top defensive backs in the state of Louisiana. In this nail biter of game, my team and I would face adversity, nervousness, and discipline. We got on the rented charter bus, and began our trip down to the heart of New Orleans to play the East Jefferson Warriors in what would be a very exciting high school football game full of hard hits and upsets.

With my eyes glued to the ball. Just waiting for the center to snap it to the quarterback I made sure my cleats were dug in and ready to go. As the center moved the ball I charged forward shoving the center out of the way and slamming my shoulder into the quarterback and taking him down before he had a chance to blink. After the play, there was time to think to myself about the past week, the events that had transpired, the important decision I had made, and about that one sunny day at practice.

Have you ever felt like you’re not good enough, not knowing just how much potential you have? One of the most salient experiences of my life was making the Island Coast High School football team, because it taught me that to succeed you must be confident in yourself. The old me would have thought, “ I’m not good enough,” because I never thought that I could compete with kids that already played football. I suppose that I always felt like i couldn’t compete with football players because whenever I would play football in eighth grade, I would not be able to keep up with them. Little did I know, all of that was about to change the day I made my way to the middle of the humid, scorching fied, staring into the eyes of North Ft. Myers Highs’ freshman football team.

    A week before the second district game and my family and I were eating at five guys at Tiffany Springs. We had just sat down with our food when a guy came in that was dressed in his 2017 senior hoodie and sweatpants. He was waiting for his food when I got up to refill my drink, He asked if I went to Smithville because he saw I was wearing a smithville sweatshirt.

Tonight was a game that determined the outcome of the season. Tonight they had to win. Tonight was the night where they had to improve their record. York High is a tough team full of many talented athletes, but lacking the knowledge of the game. Or so we thought. Walking into the locker room, you could feel the intensity of the guys. They knew that their season depended on tonight. It was their last night as freshman football players, it was their last night to make a name for themselves. They tried to play it off as if they weren't nervous, but I could tell otherwise. Dani, the injured guys, and myself had the water filled and ready to be loaded onto the bus in no time. Now it was just a matter of getting all the guys onto the bus. At 3:30 the bus arrived, and that meant game time would soon be approaching.

I believe joining my high school lacrosse team was an influential part of my high school career. Having social anxiety, it was not always easy for me to be around others kids. Joining the team thought me to face my fears and that sometimes it is better to stop thinking and just take that “leap” into whatever you're afraid of. Secondly I learned to push through challenging times even when I wanted to quit. Lacrosse also allowed me to meet people who I would come to look up to, and cause me to want to improve myself for the better.

The South Dakota High School Football Championship was an experience that I am grateful for having. During the process of getting ready for the event, I was more worried about my grade of the course compared to the success of the weekend. As each week passed on, I realized that this weekend is bigger than just a grade for a course, but it’s a dream that many children have had since they first touched a football. After I realized how selfish I was, I volunteered to lead the game script group that was part of the social media/marketing group. The reason behind that was because I believe I want to go into the marketing aspect of sports, and I thought it was easy. Now that the event is done, I still want to be in sport marketing, but I learned

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.--One loss doesn't define a football season, unless a team lets that loss defeat their hopes and dreams.

I felt like my stomach was going to digest itself It was my first year of flames football we’re getting ready to get our teams picked.I did so bad in pre-season, I’ll probably be on the worst team.

I remember when I was little thinking how awesome it would be to play football and I looked up to the people older than me like in middle school or high school when I was in elementary thinking that someday I would be in that same situation.

The clock winds down as time begins to run out for the Bulldogs. My skin was crawling, but not due to the cold breezes that flowed past, but because of the perturbed feelings that empowered my body. What were the possible thoughts running, no--racing through the minds of the players? My heart dashes in anticipation and pain for the team as the score reads 63-58. The Dog’s paint below their eyes stream down their face and smear, making it hard to figure out who wears the eye black and who just has a black eye from the rigorous fight. 1:27 reads on the clock. In my seat, I listen to the loud sounds of the Titans as they clash and collide for omnipotence. This game would be the end all be all for the world of college football for the season.

There is five seconds left in the basketball game, the Boilermakers are down by one. The ball gets inbounded and at the buzzer a shot goes up and it’s good!! THE BOILERMAKERS WIN!! THE BOILERMAKERS WIN!! Every Purdue Student and fan wants to hear those extremely special words. Sporting events at Universities around the country bring students together and allow the student body to come together to put aside their differences.