When I was growing up in Winona, Friday night was a huge part of every fall season. My father would drive me to the high school football games to watch whichever one of my cousins happened to be on the team that year. I am the youngest of eight cousins who played on the football team at Cotter High School, all at different times. I looked up to every single one of them, because playing on the team seemed like only a dream for me. What I did not know was that, “In the 2012-2013 school year, 14,048 U.S. high schools fielded teams to play 11-man per side American tackle football” (Jeffrey). It was only a matter of time before I got my chance to play in one of those games. I watched the football team win games for many years before I ever got …show more content…
The football team had a new head coach for the first time in twelve years. My nerves kicked in during warm-ups. I remember thinking that it was one of the best nights of my life. I had absolutely no idea what I would learn in the next four years of my life. Our team won only two games that year. I only got in for three plays the whole season. I could have quit right then; I did not quit. Sophomore year was much better. One of my cousins was a senior captain that year. I remember thinking very highly of him because he was a great leader on and off the field. Our coach was finally figuring out how to motivate us to win football games. Our team won five games that year, including a huge playoff victory on the road. I remember thinking that it was the best night of my life. I stood on the sideline most of the season. I only played five plays. I could have quit; I did not …show more content…
I worked hard all summer to get ready for the season. Our coach was so enthusiastic that summer. When we got practicing in the fall, things seemed very fresh and fun. We played our first game of the season; we lost by 61 points. In our second game we lost by 30 points; we had yet to score a point all season. Trying to remain optimistic, we continued to work hard in practice the following week. Our coach called us in for a team meeting two days before our next game. He told us he was not feeling well and needed to seek help. That was the last time I ever saw that coach. Team morale was already headed in a negative direction after being unable to score in two straight games. Morale went from bad to worse after that meeting. Practice that day was quiet and we went on to lose the next game; we were shutout again. Our interim coach was a great coach. He strengthened team morale by making football simple and fun again. Practices had a whole new feeling, and we finally started to score points. We won only one game that year; I played nearly every play. I could have quit; I did not quit. Senior year I was named a captain of the team, my goal since freshmen year. We had a new head coach for the third time in my four years. That year was supposed to be different; we had the most talented team in years. As the season went on, things took another downhill turn. I saw three of my friends wreck their knees,
Douglas E. Foley offers an interesting analysis of American football culture in high schools, in his article titled “The Great American Football Ritual: Reproducing Race, Class and Gender Inequality”. The author covers the ways that the football culture splits people apart and segregates them into groups based on what they contribute to the football scene. The football scene seems to bring negativity to the lives of every group it touches, yet it is still a staple in American culture to this day.
Freshman year of football almost drove me to quit football. The coaches drove us harder and made us work our tails off. That year taught me to work even harder than before. My sophomore year was even more taxing than the year before, trying to show the coaches that I belong and that I will try to beat the upperclassmen in anything that I could. Junior year I didn’t get to play varsity and that drove me to work even harder to get a starting spot for my senior year. By the time I got to my junior year, I finally got out of my comfort zone and I wouldn’t just take a hit, I would deliver one. And when senior year rolled around I finally got a starting spot on the varsity offense. I finished my senior season with one catch for thirty eight yards. High school football taught me to trust people; coaches, teammates, and friends. Without them none of it would have happened.
Entering my final season of AAU basketball I knew I had set myself up for a roller coaster of emotions, whether it was from the night of my first practice, the weekend of my first tournament, or my first time on the road with my new team. This was because a lot was on the line this season, and I strived to make this season my best, and most enjoyable. This is mostly because this was the final year getting the opportunity to put on my red and black jersey every tournament. It was my last season traveling around the country with my teammates every weekend with one goal, to win, and it was my last season to improve my skills all around, in an attempt to further my basketball career into college. During the first few practices I was nervous for how the season would go because I noticed my coach was a lot harder on me than he was to my teammates and I did not know how to take that at first.I was not used to to his coaching style of being loud, in your face, and tough, or his emphasis on "perfection" because on my past teams I was used to being the best person on the team, and my coach rarely had negative criticism for me, so I took his intense coaching style terribly.
Abstract: High school football in the state of Texas has become out of control. The sport is no longer played for the sake of the school but rather has become a Friday night ritual to these small towns in Texas. The players are no longer just high school kids inter acting in school sports but have now become heroes to these small town communities. Communities simply no longer support their local high school team but rally in pride of their hometown rivalry against another team. School administrators and coaches no longer are teachers and mentors for the kids but are the equivalent to what in professional football are team owners and "real coaches". Parents have become agents and sacrifice their jobs and homes so that their child may play for the right team. Finally the fans, the fans have lost the sense that it is just a high school sport and changed the game to a level of professional sports. I plan to prove and show that for all these reasons Texas high school football has become out of control. It is no longer the game that it was originally meant to be.
American Football is a huge spectator sport where offensive and defensive players will use teamwork and perseverance to try and score more points than their opponent. Football is highly respected in America, where boys will try and pursue the dream of playing in the NFL (National Football Association) someday; but if you look at an average neighborhood, you will find that kids and adults of all ages love to go out and throw around the pigskin. (Lerner and Lerner 275). One thing Americans will take pride in is the college and NFL football teams they root for. People sit down with a beer and talk hours upon hours of football and two individuals can get in a heated discussion in the local sports store of whose sports team is better. Surprisingly enough, one will find the most passionate football players at the high school level. Most boys will start their football career as a young child in football programs such as Pop Warner to get a foothold and to get those involved in teamwork and friendships. These programs are usually the start to someone falling in love with the sport and making it a career choice eight years later. Football is one of America’s favorite sports. When fall season comes around, people across America are placing bets, finding out where that new sports bar is, and buying wide screen T.V’s to watch NFL on Sundays. After their team plays, they will go out and reminisce what happened that Sunday. While thousands of fans are still pumped from the NFL games they watched; small towns across America are getting ready to shut down their shops and restaurants to have the chance to make it to the local high schools football game. Ray Glier, a reporter for the New York Times, writes about football in the small town of Appala...
My senior year of baseball was quickly coming to an end. I knew the only games we had left were the playoff games. It was the first round of the state playoffs. We were the fourth seed, so we had to play a number one seed. I knew it was going to put our team to the test, but I knew we had a chance to beat them. We had a good last practice before game day, and I felt confident in my team and felt like we were ready for the game.
American football for youth emerged as a social benefit in 1929 when Joseph J. Tomlin, of Philadelphia, organized the first competitive youth football league called the Junior Football Conference [1]. At the time, society was experiencing an influx in youth vandalism; thus, in response to the issue, Tomlin’s solution was to create a youth football league to get these idle youth off the streets and into an athletic
A year later, I was again chosen for the team. This time, I worked my way from being a back-up catcher to the starting 3rd baseman in two weeks. But after going 0-2 in my first two at-bats, my coach took me out of the starting line-up. Again, I pinch-hit, and was very successful at it. I even hit what turned out to be a game-winning homerun. We later reached the championship game again, but we lost it for the second time. This time I was more frustrated than I could ever remember being. I was slamming my hand into walls and almost crying. I was really acting very childish.
“If at first you don’t succeed try , try again.” At the age of six I was starting to play football. The game was a hard hitting running and commitment. I was six years old at the time now I’m fourteen a freshman in high school a lot has changed.
To this day, this game haunts me and sometimes I find it hard to sleep at night because I am too busy thinking of what should have been. Looking back, the way to describe the ending to my senior season is disappointment; not only in myself, but in my entire team. Being the only senior it felt like more of betrayal than anything. It felt like my teammates knew they had more than a second chance to redeem themselves so they were not as heartbroken and sympathetic towards the loss and towards
I honestly believe without football I would not have an identity since it played a crucial role in shaping me into the caring, smart, and passionate person I am today. Before football you could not pinpoint the difference between the herds of people who did not have a care in the world and myself. Ever since the 6th grade I frequently arrived to school tardy, got into multiple fights for no apparent reason, and often received disappointing grades; these bad habits became a daily routine that derived from the fact that I did not know any better. After being raised by parents who did not finish high school and never stressed the importance of school, I had no one to instill a moral compass within me. Anyways, at the beginning of my 7th grade year I was messing around in my Physical Education class when suddenly a football coach
Tackle football is a culturally significant and popular sport in America. Many young children feel compelled to mirror the game they see played on television. They are too young to realize the dangers of doing so, and thus it is our duty as a society to keep them from hurting themselves. Young people should not be allowed to play tackle football because it negatively impacts their cognitive development, and can cause a slew of other physical ailments.
My senior baseball season wouldn’t have been the same if it wasn’t for the kids I had around me. All of my closest friends were on the baseball team which makes it easy to see why it was my favorite season. Win or lose we were the most tight knit group of guys you could come across. Not only were we very close friends but
For as long as I can remember football has been a part of my life in some way, shape, or form. When I was first born my grandfather said that I was solid and built to play football. I used to throw the football with my mother when I was a toddler and she always told me that when I tried to tackle her I hit really hard. My first organized football experience was when I was five. I had just moved to Manassas, VA from Washington, D.C. in 1994. It was around fall and that was right at the beginning of football season in the area. I remember telling my mother that I wanted to play, so she looked for a local organization for children. She came across the Greater Manassas Football League (GMFL) and that is where I began to play the game I love.
Then came the senior year. The season came around and my coach, Coach Fletcher, had big expectations for me. I suffered through soccer conditioning and lost a few pounds from it. But I’m getting ahead of myself. the spring season before school ball was my biggest nightmare.