Ever since I was younger, I always enjoyed playing sports and being active all the time.

used to play a lot of sports video games such as Madden and 2K, I always envisioned myself

being one of the players in the game, so I made plenty of Myplayer accounts. Just being around

sport activities makes me feel good about myself. Playing with other teammates made the sport

more exciting. Throughout all the sports I played football was the best sport of them all. The

pregame chants always boosted the teams adrenaline, the colorful smoke you run through that

fogged up the field in bright colors, and the big air tents you run out of are moments in football

you never forget.

I always played neighborhood football but I haven’t started playing football on an

organized team until sixth grade. I played youth football for the Panthers. When I first started

playing on the team I would have to wake up on Saturday mornings for summer workouts. I was

never a morning person, so waking up in the morning wasn't too easy but I didn't like to be late

so I rushed myself a lot. When I got to the field’s parking lot it was a sign up sheet my parents

had to sign before I can go on the field. After they were done, I walked on the field that smelled

like fresh cut grass and was half way wet. The coach was in the middle of the field and we made

a circle around him, ready to stretch. After we got finished stretching we did sprints and agility

workouts with cones. We progressively added more workouts every week, we started doing 6

inches, bear crawls, planks, up downs, and sit ups. The day we got pads I was slightly nervous

because I have seen some videos of players getting hit very hard. We were doing hitting drills

and everyone that was going before didn't get hurt, so that made me more confident about going.

When it was my turn, I was the one on the tackling side, when coach blew the whistle I aimed for

his hips and dragged him down. From then on, I never felt nervous about tackling. When it was
time for the games I always played running back and linebacker. The first game of the season I

score but I did have four sacks and we won. Our team played so good in Charlotte, we went to

Florida for a national tournament. We finished in third place but the team was still proud that we

came and competed nationally.

I learned that you'll never get to where you want to go in life if you don't practice your

craft. The work you put in is the product you get. So cheating yourself wouldn't get you

anywhere but the same place you started from. From playing the sport of football I learned if

everyone plays their role, you'll be more successful because football is a team sport. My coach

always told us, “There is no I in team”. Football changed my way of thinking by everyone has a

part to play and playing as a team makes everyone stronger as a whole.