“The scoreboard never meant a thing”

I just ended my fourth year of CVHS football and I’ve got to admit, I miss it already. All I hear as I walk down the halls here at school is people complaining and making fun of the football program, but I can’t help but to think about all the good times I had with my friends on the field all these years.

I remember when I was a little freshman, going to one of my first practices. I was so nervous as we all gathered around a senior who began telling us how fast our four years would fly by. None of us believed him, but in the long run he was exactly right.

During my seven years of playing, football has given me a family, countless friends, great memories, and most of all, a will and strive to work as hard as I can at everything I do. Who cares if our record is bad?

Any experienced football player will tell you that he doesn’t sign up for those short ten games a year. We play the game for the experience and good times with our teammates.

It’s very testing to work so hard during the blazing hot summer, covered in warm, heavy pads, wanting to win so badly on Friday night, and then to lose and be so disappointed in yourself.

The worst is coming back to school on a Monday and hearing how much we suck from people who have never even worn pads.

But in the end, the payoff is much greater. To me, all these years, the scoreboard never meant a thing. It was all those times standing there with my team that really mattered, not what other people said.  

In my mind it seemed like no one else understood how we felt. But for all of that, I am truly thankful for the bond we football players share.