Quit In College

I really didn’t do to well hitting but the rest of my team did and that’s what meant a lot to me and watching my teammates making plays and working as hard as the possible can play in that field made me supper happy. It came down the last inning and we kind of just fell apart in the field but we still have to fight and play hard and just because we are losing doesn’t mean we stop playing. The game finally came to the end and the seniors started getting emotional and then everyone on the team started to get a little emotional it was a very hard loss for the whole team and the coaches. After knowing that we had a great season the team got together for one big last eagles on three for the

We were defending the other team and we did not give them any room to shoot the ball. In other words, defending means we tried to stop them from scoring. However, one of their teammates shot a three-pointer and despite the defense we had, he made it. Our hearts sunk as the tears were trickling down our eyes. We lost all hope and thought we lost, so our coach called a time-out. During the time-out our coach motivated us and told us that with thirty seconds remaining in the clock we were still in the game. Also, he made us realized that we had a lot of time to make the last shot and win the game. We inbounded the ball and with our play in motion I decided to pass the ball to my teammate Wisdom as they expected me to take the final shot. As he shot the ball, everyone held their breaths as the ball traveled towards the rim. He missed. Even though there was eight seconds remaining in the game, the other team started celebrating. However, I did not want to lose. Luckily, I stole the ball from the other team and ran for a lay-up as the time dwindled down to zero. Our devastation and our positive attitude paid off when the game

Joining a new club soccer team coupled with almost daily workouts allowed me to improve my skills in the offseason. The feeling of going into tryouts being so prepared allowed a new level of confidence to emerge in myself. With only two starting spots open, working hard from the very start was necessary in order for me to prove myself to coach. After making the team again, I knew giving my best effort couldn’t end here. I showed up to practices with a positive attitude, always ready to work hard. When the preseason scrimmages, long practices, and exhausting fitness checks were over, the feeling of having earned a starting spot was incredibly satisfying. Now, not only am I working hard to keep up my starting spot, but I am hoping my attitude will rub off on everyone and make the team stronger. Afterall, soccer is a team sport; and the possibility of winning a state title in the near future adds to my ambition to perform well for my teammates every time I step on the field.

Throughout the hallways of the Xcel, all I could hear was people cheering for us. Not only were the students of East High happy to have won, but over 75 percent of the people attending the game were as well. As we finally made it out of the Xcel, I knew this was a moment I would remember for the rest of my

"I kinda let it go, but I know I played pretty well. He wanted to kinda get other guys in I could see. So I just went with the flow and took what I got when I was out there."

“I’ve seen you practicing over the month, and you seem to have a-” he stopped there.

I was in shock because he came, nut more because he had coaches there with him. He told me that he had been watching me play and watching my highlights. Then he introduced me into the coaches. I shook their hand firmly and with a smile. Tyrann Mathieu was just standing aside with my high school coach. Both of the coaches gave me a bag and a scholarship to the colleges. They told me that they would be glad to have me on their team and that I was a great athlete. I was very excited and even though I left belaire they all gathered around and shook my hand telling me how proud they were of me.

They passed the ball with 0 seconds left. We won, my teammates jumped on me with joy. We shook there hands and said, “good game”. We only beat them by 5 points. My dad gave me a hug and said, “good game” to me. I felt like I could do anything in the world . I felt unstoppable. I ran to the bleachers screaming like a

We got the two-point conversion right after our touchdown, improving our moods even more. We were now at a tie, 8-8 and I was back in the game. On 4th Down, when it was UCLA’s ball, they tried to do one of their runs again, but this time, I was ready. I sprinted like a cheetah, and then I tore the flag off of him, which resulted in LSU’s ball. Maybe it could make up for the first play, I thought. Just as easily as before, our team scored the touchdown. Once again, I went to the sidelines. My teammate high-fived me as we passed by each other.

Our team was coming off an undefeated season and the JV team before us went 5-5 with the same coaches we were about to have. But I started the season with an open mind, hoping to again go undefeated. With Jack being my position coach, we spent a lot of time together and immediately a bond was formed. His coaching philosophy was always to be a friend not a parent, to teach not to yell and I took this to heart. The feeling I was being respected and not treated like a stereotypical teenager was eye opening to me. I was able to have full conversations with Coach Jack as if he was a very wise friend of mine, which is the best way I can describe him. This taught me something valuable, you can have a conversation with anyone no matter the age as long as there is a mutual respect. Throughout the season Coach Jack treated me as a student of the game, a padawan if you will. He would always explain to me his thoughts about coaching and explain a play call to me to make sure I understood all the aspects. All of these explanations seemed to follow the same phrase, “When you become a coach...” At the time I didn’t know coaching was the career I wanted to pursue, but Coach Jack did. He saw in me love for the game and a passion to stay involved in the great game of football, even after my playing days were over. After one season on JV, both Coach Jack and I moved up to the varsity level my following year. For the third year in a row our team went undefeated in the regular season, though we stumbled in the semi-finals of playoffs and were knocked out of the championship race. All that loss did was fuel our fire for our final season. I however was not aware that I had already played my final season of football. Diving for a football in the beginning of my senior summer, I broke my wrist. One surgery and several months in a cast kept me sidelined from competing with my team. Although

As I matured, it became easier for me to learn and understand the points in which my coach was trying to get me to understand. As a young boy, most of the things that were said to me went in one ear and out the other because I was more focused on having fun. As I got older, I could better understand coach Cipilone’s lessons as well as taking on new ones from my middle school coach, and teachers. At this age I was more mature which helped me to listen and understand what my coach was saying. My middle school coach was also my health and gym teacher. This was great because he was able to take what he was teaching me on the field as a player to the classroom as student. I always look at sports as a fun activity so I did not want to learn while I was out there playing. I think it was easier to absorb information in the classroom as a student.

I played basketball from 3rd grade until 8th grade. I would work my butt off the whole time I remember the last game I ever played. We lost both of are biggest players. One went to play for another team at a different tournament and the other had been elbowed above the eye and had to go to the hospital for stitches. We did not have many kids left who were tall, so we had to push harder to try and win. Everyone wanted to give up because our biggest players were gone but I just wanted to give it all. I pressured the offense as much as I could, trying to steal the ball for a fast break because with my skills the best way for me to score was a lay-up. I would swat at any shot, dive at any loose ball, and throw myself into anywhere to keep it out of the other teams hands, but my team had already given up. Right then and there I was so disgusted that when the game was over I decide

I was not serious about the sport as I joked around and tried to flirt with girls during practice. My coach, Coach Goodwin, gave me my jersey and schedule. I had a game next Monday! I started to work seriously hard on dribbling drills, but I was pretty good at basketball before playing. Monday came and we were going against the best team in the league! I felt the adrenaline pumping as the game started, and I held on to it. We did not score the whole 1st quarter. Assistant Coach Hodges pounded it on us hard, but for some reason I loved it. The 2nd quarter began and the opposing team kept scoring. Finally, our point guard, Marcus Molder, brought the ball down and passed it to me at the 3-point line. I got a marvelous feeling in my bones, and shot a 3-pointer. It was the first and pace-setting shot Bethany scored as I made it in. That was when I knew I had athletic ability, and I actually loved the sport. “No matter how much discipline will be upon me, I will use my athletic ability to the fullest”, I said. Bethany still lost the game 88 to 18, but I had the thrill of my

I eventually stopped playing basketball competitively after a series of injuries. This was a major heartbreak considering I lived and breathed basketball since the age of seven. I had to find something new to focus on and love.

At the beginning of my senior high school season my family was given the awful news that my mother had breast cancer and soccer was the only way for me to get it off my mind. I’m just thankful for my coaches and teammates for helping get through one of the toughest times in my life. Coach Specht was there for the whole time making sure I was alright. Even after the soccer season he was still there for me, thankfully now my