The Lessons Learned from Football by Tyler

The Lessons Learned from Football by Tyler - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

Growing up football has always been my favorite sport. It has always been a family tradition on Sundays to get together and enjoy the games. I first played organized football when I was in fourth grade, and fell in love with the sport. I remember we didn't do to well as a team that year but it was a great experience for me. I stayed with it and played all the way through high school and enjoy every minute of it. I grew up in Boonville, IN, where I first played. I lived in Boonville all the way up until my junior year of high school, where I moved to Henderson County High School. Football practice was going on before school even started, and of course I was going to play. Walking in the locker room on that hot summer morning was a little nerve racking. I had never been in an environment like that where I didn't know a single person. At first they weren't very welcoming. The players had their own little cliques and didn't shy away from them. Running out on to the practice field I didn't exactly know what to expect. I knew I wasn't in football shape, from not doing much through out the summer leading up to this moment. I just knew I was going to go out here and try and make a name for myself and do I best I could. Things were going good at first. I felt good during the warm up and thought I would be able to hang with every one just fine. However, that all changed real quick. Out of no where I began to feel light headed and my vision became blurred. I went on the sidelines to sit down and not long after that I threw up. I knew the other players were laughing and thinking that I wouldn't be back. And to tell you the truth, I didn't I would be either at that moment. Well the trainer took care of me and decided I should just call it a day and head home. My dad was a little worried but told me if I really wanted this I should go back. The next day I'm sure the football team and even the coaches were surprised to see me walk through the doors. Practice finally got under way, and everything went good. I stayed with it and got through it all, even through I was dead tired at the end, it felt great making it through the entire practice. After practice a lot of the players came up and introduce their selves. They were chuckling at me telling me about the day before and how they all thought I wouldn't show back up. They congratulated me and told me that were happy I stuck with it. That felt good hearing that from them, and motivated me to stay with it. As time and practices went on, I began to fit in quite well. I earned a starting spot on the defense and gained a lot of friends that I still have today. The lessons I learned from this experience and football in general is that you can't give up when times get tough. If I would've given up the first day I would've never had one the best experiences of my life playing for that team. And I would've never made the great friends I did. Football is a tough sport that teaching you a lot. Team work is one of these learned lessons. This skill is needed in football and in the real world. It can be applied to a number of different situations and always will be.I have had to use team work a lot through out my life, and I know football has helped me a great amount to be prepared for those moments and will for the many of those situations to come. Football taught me how to push my self through hard times. Even though I was tired a lot and felt like I was going to fall over, I kept pushing and I never regretted a single second of it. This is exactly how I am living my life now. There are times when I don't feel like doing any thing and just be lazy, but i know that will not get me anywhere. I have pushed my self to go to college and earn a degree that I can be proud of. Football as taught me so many life lessons that I will carry with me forever and apply to many different real life situations. I am very blessed to have had the experiences of football, and also for the knowledge I gained that will be with me for the rest of my life.