Wilson Crawford was one of my weight training students this past year and right before districts he told me he couldn't lift weights because he had to save his energy for districts. I told him that was fine as long as he wrote me a paper saying what track meant to him. Below is part of the paper I got from him...reading something like this makes high school athletics worth every bit of time everyone puts into it.
Wilson Crawford - Faith Bible Grad 2012
The people and events that challenge you the most change you the most. There are many challenges I've been through, but one of the greatest challenges I've been through is track & field. This sport challenges many parts of me: character, self-control, body, seizing opportunity and my attitude towards life. This is because it challenges all of those areas forcing you to adapt and better prepare those areas of yourself to face those challenges. Facing the challenges of track has changed me and made me a better person able to face life and take on challenges.
Getting beat and losing almost every time you race is a humbling experience, harder yet is realizing that as a Christian you should congratulate the people that have bested you. This realization and acting on it has made me a more humble person and improved my character. I have often heard the phrase "never accept defeat", most would think that excepting defeat would mean that I wouldn't try as hard the next meet, but in accepting the defeat I was handed in the previous track meet I take an honest look at what I did wrong and at what I need to improve on in order to do better next time. I you don't do this and make excuses instead for your defeats and mistakes it is much harder to improve yourself. Track and field has made me realize that you should take responsibility for your defeats and you can achieve victory next time.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the sfe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Brem. Discover."- Mark Twain. Looking back as I'm about to finsish my high school track season I wish I had tried more events. I have learned that I need to go and explore every opportunity in life even if I don't think I might like it, it could turn out to be something I'm passionate about. I might regret not doing some things in track, but I certainly don't regret doing track at all, it has been an amazing experience and the lessons I have learned have helped me in life and will continue to help me throughout life.
