Football has been a major part of my life since I was young. Playing since flag football, it’s just been something that I’ve done my whole life until now. Ending the season 5-5 wasn’t the best, but it was definitely one of the best experiences of my life. Being such a small team had its pro and cons but the best part of it was that we were all close. Having to see each other everyday, whether it was team bonding or practice, it made my teammates feel like brothers. Now that it’s over, it feels like a chunk of my life was ripped away. 

With all this free time on my hands now, it feels like I have nothing to do at all. During the season when practices got tough I thought about how much better it would be when I just got to go home and relax. Now that the time is actually here, I regret not enjoying every last minute spent in practice and with my brothers. 

I genuinely miss my coaches too. Coach Calandrino always messed around with me. His childish sense of humor always made me laugh. He never gave his players credit which I believe was to never let the player get satisfied. He would think it would get to a player’s head if he congratulated them. Coach Del was just a whole different story. Coach Del has been around since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth and he was filled with knowledge. From rambling on about random stuff to actually cracking some old fashioned jokes that didn’t make sense, most of the time changed the mood of practice. Coach Mark was a great coach as well. Coaching his son the past season and staying to coach us was a brave move that I respected. With all the talk of our team possibly not doing well this season, he stayed and fought for us until the final game. He made me feel very special. Now Coach Featherson was the goofiest one. Coach Featherson was not only a great mentor for the game of football, but also a good human being. He always cared for each and every player and no matter the rank, varsity or j.v, he would coach us to perfection. All of the coaches were the best and I would never replace any one of them if I ever had the chance. 

With all this free time on my hands, I plan on picking up a lot of hobbies so I’m not alone and inactive. I plan on lifting, picking up auto shop (learning a lot about cars or motorcycles), playing the guitar, and hanging out a lot more with family and friends. It’s bittersweet that the season is over and knowing that I’ll never put on my uniform again but being given all this free time could benefit me. I already miss football everyday and I would do anything to be able to play the sport of football for the Emerson Cavos just one more time.