I was ready to go out and improve upon what we accomplished the previous fall. The first day of practice couldn’t come quick enough. After months of weight lifting and minicamp practices, it was finally time for the team camp at Upper Iowa University. The first session started and we split up into teams, the varsity and the JV; I was put on the JV. My heart dropped and I became embarrassed because all of my friends got called to the varsity team. I felt like I was alone. Soon after, I became discouraged and knew in the back of my mind that I was not going to be playing much that year. This was a hard pill to swallow considering how much success I had the year before. Soon after practices started, I found myself slacking off and not caring about the sport. It was no longer about the team, it was about myself. I simply showed up to practice and stood on the sidelines. The wins weren’t even exciting to me because I was not contributing to the team at all. It was almost as if I wasn’t even on the team. Weeks went by slowly and I found myself miserable. As the weather got colder, and the leaves started changing colors and eventually falling to the ground, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I knew this nightmare of a season was almost over. October came to an end, and the first round of playoffs were here. We were matched up against Waverly-Shell Rock. I had mixed emotions about this game. We all knew that could’ve very well …show more content…
I put last year behind me and was ready to start fresh. After winning the Upper Iowa University Team Championship, I knew we were going to have a successful season and have a good time while doing it. Practices started and we continued to build off last years successes. New players, such as myself, saw more playing time and began to improve with each practice. Each game was a learning experience. As a team, we would watch film in order to figure out what needed to be worked on that week in order to continue winning games. Weeks went by so fast. Before I knew it we were in the quarterfinals playing against Solon. Solon was undefeated and ranked third in the state. We had our work cut out for us. As we marched off the bus in Solon, Iowa, I knew we were going to have to play our best game in order to win. Our main motivation was that if we won, we made it to the UNI-Dome. Playing in the UNI-Dome was a childhood dream of mine and it was just within reach. The game was a blur and before I knew it, the contest ended. As the final whistle blew, my emotions took over. I could no longer tell myself, “Oh there’s always next year.” That was it. The ride was over. I realized that I would never play another down of football with those guys ever again. Ending the season 8-3, District Champions, and reaching the quarterfinals of the IAHSAA State Football Playoffs is something that no one thought we would achieve. We have came a long ways since