Accomplishments, Challenges and Motivation. Oh My!

Meet one of the Stars of the Championship Team

Joe Casale is a Troy High Senior that has played varsity football for three years. He is currently the quaterback and also one of our safeties. Joe is the kind of person you can count on to always have your back and someone that never gives up. Joe hopes to continue his football career in college and maybe make it to the pros. Both of Joe’s brothers played football in college and he wanted to be just like them he told me.

Winning the Class AA State Finals Joe tells me was his biggest accomplishment. Troy faced at the time the number one ranked team in the state, Victor High School. It was a much bigger team than us. The game was close in score the whole time, but Troy went on to win twenty one to twenty at the last couple of minutes. “My biggest adrenaline rush was running out into the carrier dome before the game started, hearing the crowd roar.” As fans, we could only manipulate the environment, but as a player Joe had a whole different experience. “Being inside the dome it was all surreal” Joe explains. With one state championship under his belt, the senior wants just one more, which may not be so far out of reach. In the 2017 season the Flying Horses are undefeated looking to seal the section two Superbowl...and then get on the road to states.

“Work hard now so my future self can thank me” is a motto that Joe tries to live by. What he means is, if he doesn’t give it his all at that moment, he never will. During the offseason, Joe tells me one of his biggest challenges was working out and staying motivated until the new season began. But remembering the feeling of a tough loss to Amsterdam High School in 2015 helps motivate him to be the best he can be. No one likes losing, but it is how you deal with the loss that helps shape who you are. Staying motivated during a game is also very important Joe says. “I always think about how I never know who is watching. If Ohio State coaches were in the stands watching would you play harder and give it your all everyday? Of course you would. So I just play like anyone could be watching me.” Joe recognizes himself as a team player, and maintaining motivation during games is a key aspect to that role.

On top of staying motivated to work out and to play extremely hard, Joe has to keep himself motivated to keep up with his school work. Sometimes he explained that it can be hard to balance football school and his social life. “I’m used to it now. Being busy is expected so when I have a free day it is weird to me.”

“You have to know the difference between a good team and a great team. Good teams go to championships but great teams win them. So train as though you want to be great” is advice that Joe’s brother gave him. Joe thinks about this saying a lot when he is playing or training and even when he is not. It really emphasizes the difference between teams that want to win, and teams that want to be remembered. You may win a big game once, but everyone will remember that team that tried so hard everyday and every night to become stronger and to become more unified. Good teams win, great teams get remembered

Written by Kamryn Shepard