Being a high school student during COVID I have had tons of time to reflect on how much I missed playing football. I’m a high school senior and everyone knows what this last year has done to high school sports. COVID gave me tons of time to write, but not necessarily play. It gave me time to reflect on everything sports has done for me, and what the lack of playing also taught me.

When COVID hit it was last spring, the time when our team would literally build in the off-season and also bond. In previous years, each day we would get up and meet to lift to build our strength mentally and physically. COVID definitely put a damper on those plans. Each day of COVID, instead of meeting our team or groups of buddies to exercise and build in strength, we had to get creative of how to keep up exercise with weight rooms shut down and gates being locked up. It took true dedication to create a plan to keep on going when, in reality, everything pointed to stop what you were doing and fear life.

I lifted free weights, did push-ups in a 10 X 14 room, and basically had to think like an inmate about how to keep active on lock-down. The hour of freedom inmates get to exercise daily was basically the time I could take for my mile run through my community's streets because it was literally the only thing allowed. It was awful doing all that alone. I would have much rather worked out hard in our groups. We feed off of each other and the competition. I didn’t want to lose what I had built up prior to COVID hitting. Sports training can’t have gaps in it and stay ahead. My Mom kept telling me that every single day! “You have to get creative, son! Don’t let this pandemic damper your goals!”

Each day I would play two songs after waking up, head out on my run, and then get creative in where I could go without getting in trouble to work towards the goals I had set for myself. Three or four of us would socially distance and meet secretly and work out under the COVID restrictions. We followed the rules and guidelines, but it still lacked the competitiveness it takes to build as a unit. Not being able to all gather as a team was the major issue. No one should be excluded when you’re expected to perform as a team. There were times we would have to meet ten at a time and the others were expected to honor their word to build separately.

Each day of separation could have been a disaster to any team. Somehow we all took the oath to soar above the pandemic. We have all fought to overcome the pandemic as it tried to stop us, but just suiting up again in whatever sports we play made the pandemic seem to take a back seat to our goals. We have worn our masks, we have cleaned, sanitized, and repeated that routine a million times. Our lives magically felt back to normal in a strong sense. No one understands how a high school athlete should never just have to stop on a dime from chasing their dreams and doing what they love until they've suited up as a team and headed out onto the field. Then you know. COVID tried to break us, but it truly only made us stronger.