If you played a sport in high school, I am sure you can remember the last time you stepped on the field or court. Whether your team was one of the best or one of the worst, those memories will stick with you forever.
Although my playing career is not over just yet, I vividly remember every part of my final time playing during my senior year. What I think about the most is the special moment you share with your teammates as the clock ticked down.
Sure ... that moment feels like it will last forever. The tears usually come and we are crushed by the fact that it is over.
After high school, most of us go our separate way. We are either too busy to get together, or just never going to see each other again. When you are in those final moments of your sport, memories come flooding back.
It was four years ago, but I can still remember the rain coming down during our week 10 football game against Rocky River High School.
We did not win the last game of our high school careers, but there is one particular memory that has stuck with me from that night.
As seniors, we were told to bring in one parent (usually the most impactful person in your life) into the locker room and talk about them in front of the whole team. It was by far one of the most emotional moments in my sporting life. But every time I play now, I think back to that moment.
I was proud to stand up front and talk about my mother; she’s done a lot for me throughout my 20 years. I can remember the first time I picked up a football -- she was there.
I remember all the “first times.”
When I put on shoulder pads before rec practice and my mom worried all day because it was my first time playing a contact sport. At times, it felt like the journey lasted an eternity.
Endless hours of two-a-days, game preparation and practice. And in Vermilion, Ohio, I've said it before and I'll say it again, we just weren't that good.
But that was not what I was thinking about. Those memories did not take away from the sport I loved. It was the memories that had made football the biggest part of my life; they were racing through my mind.
There were highlights. Winning some close games, being on the field with some of my closest friends (which I knew I would probably never do again) and of course, there were low lights.
When you hang up your cleats for the last time (as the saying goes), you do not usually plan on getting another chance to lace them back up. For most of us, we would never play again. You will become established in your job, or you will go off to college and play exclusively through intramural, but you will never really get that experience back.
If you are playing a sport in college, I am sure you know it will never compare to high school. For the seniors just graduating high school that may read this, or those that can remember the lasts in their sporting life, think about this:
There are moments in life when you forget to sit back and take it all in. We have all had them before. We want something that is hard for us to be over with, and then when it’s gone we wish it would be back. Cherish those moments, as sappy as that sounds.
For me, Vermilion was not the best situation to start and finish most of my athletic career. However, I wouldn't have given up anything to suit up next to my best friend, or to play with my teammates and friends.
Take this moment, going into summer, to remember those moments. For seniors, it will be fresh in your mind.
But seize them.
I know I wish I would have.
