Every Friday night during the fall, the lights reflect off the field and the fans, dressed in blue and gold, scream and shout for the Ayersville Pilots. I am a student in a school that has a strong football tradition. Ayersville Football has only had a few losing seasons since football started nearly thirty-five years ago.
When I was younger, my friends and I looked up to the high school football players, such as Demetrius Trapps and Anthony King, as great leaders and mentors. They proved that hard work and dedication pays off in the end. Acting like we were players on the team, my brothers and I threw the football around in the backyard until we couldn’t see the ball anymore because it was too dark. We did this when we were in elementary school, middle school, and junior high, but when my oldest brother became a freshman on the football team, everything changed. I looked up to the football players, and then my brother was one of the football players. When I saw my brother, Nick, playing football, I became aware of the fact that someday, “I will play high school football!”
After I realized I wanted to be a football player, I tried to act like a leader and mentor towards my classmates. I liked the first years of playing football when I played in fifth and sixth grade. In junior high, my interest in playing football decreased. In my mind something didn’t feel right with the team. It decreased so much that I didn’t play football my freshman year in high school. When I went to the first game of that season, I knew I made a huge mistake. I saw all my friends pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into playing football every Friday night. During every game, I was getting so upset that I could barely watch our football team. At the end of my freshman year, I began lifting with the football team, and I also talked with my brother and my father about playing. They both played all four years of high school football. The support I received from them, along with the support from my best friend, convinced me to play my sophomore year. During my sophomore year, I had a renewed passion for the game of football.
Now that I am a junior, I play an essential role on the team. Playing football on Friday nights can’t be compared to any other sport. As the whole team walks out to the field, the nerves set in. Every player gets goose bumps before each game, which is another reason why football is such a great sport. To get ready for the game, I visualize myself making big plays. Right before the game when the whole team runs out into a tunnel of cheering fans, my nerves cause my heart to tick faster. The kickoff plays are always crazy too because both teams are pumped up to play, and kickoff plays always have big hits which can really hurt sometimes. The roar of the crowd after that big play makes all the hard work during the week all worth it. After a big play, we scream and shout because we are so pumped up. Towards the end of the game, the nerves leave, and that’s when I am having the most fun with all my friends. After football is over, I’m going to miss the lights shining down on the field, playing football with my team. When people in the community congratulate my team on how well we are doing, it makes me feel like I am making a difference in the community. My neighbor even came up to me and shook my hand to congratulate my team and me. After a win when my schoolmates are outside in the parking lot waiting on all the players after the game, I feel proud and honored. Those feelings are only felt a few times in a persons’ life.
Football players get that feeling every Friday night during the fall. Playing football was the best decision of my life as a high school student. It has changed me mentally and physically. I don’t know what my life would be like if I didn’t play football on those Friday nights with the lights shining off the field and the crowd cheering.