In a way, tennis is a metaphor for life. It requires motivation and passion. A match is a battle, where the best show not only strength and poise, but intelligence, sportsmanship, and resolve. The Edwardsville tennis program has taught me so much about striving for excellence and the pay off of hard work.
The buzzer going off, the crowd cheering, for the first time in school history, Trinty Clinton Township are state chapions. That team made history, acheiving far more than what any spartan was thought possible, but this team accomplished far more than a state championship. There has been Trinity greats that have made a mark in the Trinity basketball program history. I knew, this being my last year at trinity, that I had had mighty big shoes to fill if I also wanted to make a perminet mark at trinity. "The differance between successful people and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will"- Vince Lambardi.
Throughout playing tennis for Creekside Middle School, I have faced lots of success. I played varsity all three years there, and during my sixth grade year, helped my team win the annual county tournament between middle schools. Though I was successful for many of my matches, I did met with failure at times. One of these times would be in my seventh grade year, when my doubles partner and I had lost in the final round of the tournament.
I waited by the dance room door for what felt like hours, waiting to see if I made the varsity cheer team. The feeling of both nervousness and excitement overcame me as the coach walked over to the door to post the numbers of the few who made it. The past nine years of my life I played softball year round when I decided to trade in my bat and helmet for a set of pom-poms and a bow. Making the switch from softball to cheer was a big change, I had neither the skill nor physical capability to do what the sport of cheer incorporated.
Did your parent(s) make you ever do a sport you seemed like you had no interest in doing at all? Well that happened to me. I never planned on playing softball until I was 9 and my dad signed me up for softball. Before softball I did cheer which I was really loved cheer and I didn’t like that my dad was making me give it up.
I am Nick Drew, senior football player at Campbell University looking to one day become a Division 1 Football Head Coach. What I want in life is for my family and I to be happy and successful. I think those are two of the biggest, yet simplest things about life. If I’m happy and successful then I believe that everything else will fall into place. Along with my family being happy and successful I also want my players that I coach to be happy and successful.
It was the height of a spring softball game, and all of my girls were lined up against the chain-link fence chanting cheers in support of their teammate. I took a moment away from coaching to see one of my players standing isolated by the trees. She was talking on her cell phone looking more distraught than ever before. I walked over to her and asked her if everything was okay. She apologized quickly and said she needed to take this phone call, for it was her dad, and he was calling from prison.
The start of my freshman year was a thrilling experience for me. To start out my freshman year I made the schools Varsity soccer team, a huge accomplishment for me. However, I was naïve to the coming situation to myself. I was on the path to continuous harassment from teammates as I was surrounded by seniors. Many of the seniors had egos, full of themselves in every aspect possible.
During my junior year, my soccer coach passed away a few months before the start of the season. This was very hard on the entire soccer and school community. The assistant coach, Ray, took over the team for the following season. As it turned out, Ray was neither a nice person nor a good coach. By the state tournament, over half of the team had come to me with complaints about the coaching staff.
North Andrew hadn’t been to a state championship game since the early 90’s. This isn’t acceptable in a small football town like mine. Everyone knew something had to change. It wasn’t until my sophomore year in 2012 that we finally made it back to a state championship. We had a new coach that year and a lot of talent.
It was a Fall night wear the stars were out and all you could ever do is hear coach yelling to stop moving away from our positions. That night we were training for a very important soccer tournament that was only a couple weeks away. Coach smith liked to win but i think what he liked most was that we tried our best. We were a very hard team to defeat but we had our moments where we would lose games by a landslide.
Last year I became captain on the Soccer Varsity team of my high school. Being captain isn’t just being the head of all the girls, but is doing the best for the team. My goal was to work as a team in and outside the field, and working together to win and have fun. But my conflicts with certain girls were getting in the way, because how can I expect them to do a certain thing if I’m not setting an example. I chose to talk to those girls, set things straight and set an example to my teammates.
In today's hyper-analytical and judgemental culture, everyone has at least one person in their life that hates them. The nemesis can be anyone, a peer, relative, or even a teacher. Whoever they are, it is impossible not to feel like they are always on you and will try do anything to get at you. When thinking about these characteristics, I have come to the conclusion that my despiser happens to be my old soccer coach Brad. I have played soccer for a substantial amount of time, and over the years I've had a variety of coaches, but out of all them
Late last summer, I was hired to coach the team that would have an unimaginable impact on our talent pool for my high school volleyball teams. In the past years, I developed a bright, shining passion for the sport, and coaching a team would be an astounding opportunity to utilize my inspiration to give back to the community. Previously I had been a student manager of the Varsity team, following orders and assisting in practices; in other words, the mule of the gym. I’ve always had, and still continue to grow, a love for simply being in the volleyball gym. Watching the athletes practice every day, observing the coaches lead and train, and cheering along from the bench during every game were only a fraction of the enjoyments that pulled me tighter
My high school is highly competitive and I’m grateful that I was surrounded by such wonderful peers and teachers. Completing high school, I received 12th place out of almost 450 students, with a weighted GPA of 4.244. Despite my hard course load,
