I want to start off
with noting that God is blessing a lot of us with the desires of our
hearts. And to the ones that it may seem
difficult right now because you’re not seeing results, God will show up right
on time. He knows what is best for
you. Allow him to take control. Exercise
your faith in him. Thank you, Lord.
I want to speak on a touchy subject. Touchy because I experienced this same
problem as I went through my high school career. “Doing what’s best for the team” vs chasing
my collegiate dreams. Going into my
senior year, I knew that I wanted to play college football. I knew what it would take to play college
football. I had my goals of rushing over 1500 yards set and I truly believed
that I had what it took to make that happen.
At the end of the first game of my senior season, Coach sat me down and
asked me to make a sacrifice for the team.
He wanted me to concentrate my efforts at one position. Linebacker. I played both ways the entire
game, and I felt that I was doing great at juggling both positions. He wanted me to give up my ambition to play
running back at the college level to do what’s best for the team.
I was the team captain and I felt that it was a necessity to
act in the favor of the team in whatever decision I made. The truth of the matter is, my team needed me
at linebacker. Coach believed that I
could be the cornerstone of the defense.
But deep down, I knew my personal goal was to play running back. I didn’t
feel the same rush at linebacker. It
didn’t feel “natural” to me.
In my final decision, I told Coach that, yes, I would play
linebacker the majority of the game. Yes,
I did make a sacrifice for my team. Yes, it did hurt me to do that. But when I told Coach that I would make that
sacrifice, in the same breath, I told him my dreams of playing running back on
the college level. I told him that because I was jeopardizing my future at the
collegiate level, I needed him to stand with me and support me to make sure
that those dreams weren’t shattered because of this decision. I demanded him to promise me enough snaps at
running back to put together a solid highlight tape. All I needed was film. All I needed to do was show a college coach
that I had the potential to dominate my competition at the running back
position.
So yes, I did play linebacker the majority of the games my
senior year, but when I got the
opportunity to play running back, I went 110%. I knew that I had a limited
amount of reps at running back. I was
not going to let this situation hold me back in the recruiting process. Each time I touched the ball I had it in my
mind that I had to score. I was already one step behind the other running backs
in my conference because they touched the ball almost every down. If I was going to compete with their stats, I
had to give it my all every rep I took at running back. All I needed was film. And if I could leave
that game with at least 5 highlights worthy of adding to my highlight tape,
that was a successful game. Let’s say Coach
promised me 12 snaps at running back. If I dominated 50% of that time, 6 reps, that
was a great day.
I say this because I had a parent come to me with a similar
problem. Coach wants their kid to switch
positions for the betterment of the team.
Well, yes, you are on the team and you have to always act in the best interest
of the team. But your college dreams are
not over. Negotiate with your
coach. Use the leverage of your
sacrifice. Communicate your goals with
the coach and if you can get him to promise you a set number of plays, let’s
say 8 plays, you better go hard for those 8 plays. You better rip somebody’s
head off, bust a long one, or moss somebody for at least 4 plays. Use these opportunities. When you get in, you have to go like there’s
no tomorrow.
I will be speaking on the behalf of this parent and their
son to their coach very soon. I will be
communicating this very philosophy with the coach. I will let you guys know how it goes. I am speaking through experience here. Like I said, I went through this same process
and I am living my dream on the college level.
I am playing division three, but I feel that if I am able to help
somebody through their struggle, I have done my job as their mentor.
In the meantime: Go
make plays. Have a big game. Why not you?
Why can’t you be the best in the state?
I talked to CJ Freeman (Northern Guilford) after his huge 200 yard game
last week. He said he woke up that
morning with the attitude of “why can’t I be the best running back in the state?” And to hear a 16 or 17 year old speak and act
in that type of faith almost brought tears to my eyes. Go make an impression on the game.
I’ll be watching. My
prayers are with every one of you as you compete this Friday. I love you all,
-
Janesh
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