Lessons from the Locker Room Essay

A new chapter began in my biography on the first day of ninth grade. That day, I went to my first day of newcomer footb either practice. Although I knew a little about the game, I had n of all time played football beforehand, so I was more or lesswhat apprehensive about what might happen. The coaches guided us through a serial publication of tests designed to locating us into the appropriate positions, although close to of the twats already knew where they would be playing. I did all(prenominal)thing the best I could, and was soon charge to Coach Green and the linemen. Through that year I never got to start a game, merely the things that happened two on and morose the field with the otherwise histrions made me very interested in what would come in the future. The experiences of that year set the stage for my entrance into varsity high school football, an experience which would shape oftentimes of my life.Before anyone can join the varsity football group, he must comp lete a series of tests. However, these tests are non like those at many an(prenominal) schools. Coach has a philosophy that anyone who is willing to honorarium the price should be allowed to be on the squad. Based on that philosophy, numerous criteria are presented to all the would-be(prenominal) players at the beginning of preparation for the season. When I first saw these criteria, I thought that they sounded very simple. They consisted of such(prenominal) things as getting into bed by a specified time each wickedness, eating healthy, coming to five workouts in the summer, and not missing a practice for any reason other than family emergency. minute did I know, they would, in the end, be much more costly than I originally thought.After our freshman season was over, some of the players on the squad were given the fortune to move up to the varsity squad for the playoffs. I took advantage of the opportunity, and quickly found myself in the middle of a close-knit family. At that point, I understood very little of what was happening. However, I knew for sure that I wanted to learn more. That season terminate at our rivals field in defeat on a cold night in late November. In the locker room after the game, most of us cried as we cognise what this meant for the seniors of that year and for that police squad. For the first time, I watched guys cry and hug each other as they used their recognise for each other to pull themselves through the feelings of disappointment. Coach called together those of us who would comprise the team of the interest year, andtold us to prepare for plenty of hard work in the off season.The first day can in January, I had my first official test. This test would be the benchmark by which each player would judge his progress in the off season. The test tested our speed and strength, but the workouts would test our mall and our commitment. The next day, we had our first official workout. We played out the first week with coach es giving us demonstrations on decorous technique in weight lifting. Within two weeks though, we had begun in earnest. Fridays were reserved for special workouts. I still remember my first one. It was supposed to be an upper body lifting day, and the youngest of us were rather confused when we were told to turn over the upper body room and go into the locker room. We all dreaded what might be delay for us. All we actually did through the whole thirty minute workout was what check overmed like a special K pushups, but that day began a special bonding process. Within five minutes of beginning, most of us were already extremely tired and ready to quit.I am not sure that I ever knew who was speaking, but all that I can remember was intensly painful muscle cramps and the encouragement world shouted by my teammates. At that moment when failure seemed notwithstanding one more pushup away, we began to develop a sense of responsibility to one another. All that I knew was that we had to work together if we were going to arouse a chance to be what we could be. The one voice I can remember was a teammate of mine. I remember him lying three guys over, sweating and straining as he struggled to keep his body off the ground. At the moment when I felt that I could not go on any drawn-out his eyes met mine. He quietly told me to never give up and to fight as long as I had the chance. I merely nodded to him and decided that I had to pass water it through.After several more agonising minutes, Coach told us to get in our half mile before we leave. As I jogged round the track, I thought to myself about how difficult varsity football was going to be. As the workout terminate I thought to myself, just bury me right here. I decided, however, that I would be able to make it through with the help of my teammates. We had several more special days, but whenever I would think that I could not go any longer, I would remember my teammates going through the same thing and be st rengthened. genuinely quickly, the summer was upon us. At first I thought that the summer workouts would be a carbon assume of the ones which we had during school, but I wouldsoon find I was wrong.The first thing that I noticed was that attending at summer workouts was optional. However, this proved to be more beneficial. Because people were not required to come everyday, most days only people who wanted to be there would come. There were always some guys who could be counted on to be there. These guys were the ones who eventually formed the core of our team. Friday was once again reserved as a day for a different kind of workout. The first Friday of that summer I was introduced to a superset. In a superset, Coach would decide on a series of exercises, and we would go through the circuit as many times as possible in the time available. These undoubtedly were seen as something of a competition to see who could do the most, but eventually we would all get tired and slow down. Coach noticed our fall pace and our fatigue, and he asked us why we had been slowing down. Of course he knew the answer, and he quickly asked us another question.His next question though, was much more difficult. He brought up a hypothetical agency in which we had reached the tail quarter of a game and were all very tired. Coach asked us if, when the fourth quarter came, we were going to quit and take the easy way out. Of course we all answered that we would play with everything that we had. consequently he made a very simple statement. Coach told us that if planned on being able to give things our all in a game, we had to practice fighting past the pain. According to him, to do anything less would be selling ourselves short of the potential that we had. From that time on, we gave all that we had in every opportunity we had. We fought through the summer workouts together, and gradually became more and more dependent on each other. We began to realize that we would have to put togethe r everything that we had learned and practiced all summer if we were to survive the last two weeks before school started.The last two weeks before school started is known as Camp. Camp is the last vault to be cleared before someone is an official team member. We practiced from one till niner for two weeks that year. By the end of the two weeks, we were all strained physically, mentally, and emotionally. Each night, I would come home, waste off, and slump into bed. Then, I would proceed to coat my legs in a layer of Flex-All. While there were moments when some of us likelywondered if the end of Camp would even come, it did eventually arrive. However, eventually the end of the two weeks came. I vividly remember the last night of Camp. We practiced until our regular time, but then a team meeting was called at the fifty-yard line.Coach congratulated us for making it through and told us it was time for story time. We spent the next twenty minutes running from coach to coach at differen t places on the field, and earshot to stories about something that had happened on that spot of the field. All of the stories told were based on what it means to be a vocalisation of the team. Through these stories, the coaches painted vivid portraits of past team members who had been willing to go beyond the call of transaction for the team.I do not remember the details of many of the stories very well, but I do remember the story told by another coach. He told the story of a guy from a team several years removed who had really shown what it meant to be a mustang. According to the story, the quarterback had thrown an interception when the team was already down by a touchdown in the fourth quarter. One of the quarterbacks teammates, a guy who had never really been a standout player, was not willing to let the opposing team rank as a result of the interception. He ran from the opposite side of the field and was able to tackle the guy ten yards short of the goal line. Coach claimed the player had never run as fast as he did on that night.Spurred on by the effort of their teammate, the defense made a strong stand, and the team fought back to win that game. I expected to hear a lesson about giving it all you had, but instead, Coach had something different in mind. He told us about the importance of picking up the on the loose(p) for everyone else. He reminded us that in the time we would spend together, not everyone would be perfect on every play, but that we would still be alright if we all did the best we could.This year has been a very provoke one. As a senior captain on the team, I have had a responsibility all year long to help lead the team. During the workouts, I would often find myself shouting encouragement to the junior players as they struggled. Many of the seniors have gone beyond their responsibilities for the sake of the team. But these lessons do not layover confined to the field and the locker room, for I often find them having aneffect on m e outside of the football environment. Coach has taught us that we are examples everywhere that we go.Any time there is a decision that I must make, my thoughts inevitably bring me to the question, Is this something worthy of a Mustang football player? I believe that my experiences in football were critical to me successfully overseeing a class day as junior class prexy while I was short handed. I think I would have been tempted in the past to just give up. I was so intent on not giving up and on doing everything I could possibly do for the team (in this case, the class) though that I knew I had to depend on some other people and, with their help, work everything out.