As the summer came to an end, I started to think about my last year at NMH; three things came to mind:, classes, sports, and everything else. My senior year, I would be playing three sports; soccer, basketball, and Track. I was excited, two varsity sports, one JV, and three sports that I love. But wait, JV? That acronym unfortunately doesn’t ring well in the ears of people back home who don’t understand NMH. I mean its JV basketball and after all we are a basketball powerhouse and one of the best in the country, so what more can I expect, right?
My soccer season. This fall I had one of the best seasons I have ever played in my life, and definitely the best soccer season I have ever had. My whole life I have felt as though I have played on soccer teams with kids who didn’t want to play, kids who were so concerned about their own individual success that they didn’t play for team. This team was different, we didn’t play for ourselves, we played and practiced for the team. A big part of that mentality came from our coaches, but also from ourselves. We had a true passion for the game and showcased that passion together as a unit. We were a unit, we practiced as a unit, lost as a unit and won as a unit.
There was a point midway through the season where we tied Wilbraham Monson at home. I personally was upset and I know other kids on the team were not pleased with how we played. Kevin Pratt and I decided to sit down with the team and talk about what happened, what was going on, and what we needed to do to play at our best everyday. After Pratt and I got the team together and had the talk, there was a certain spring back in everyone’s step. Instead of us just talking about New England’s we were fighting for it. That very Saturday we crushed Hotchkiss on family weekend 3-0. That was it, that was the talk that did it, after which we had 7 wins 1 tie and 1 loss. We really came together, and did what we needed to do, even in the playoffs when we were running thin.
Both of our games were on our turf, our field, and the stands were filled with our friends and our family. It was a true show of school spirit, we even sang Jerusalem when we beat Worcester Academy, which was indeed a strange turn of events. Even though we may not have one that last game, the school still supported us, we still picked each other off the turf beat up from a long season, and stayed together as a unit. We fought harder than I had ever seen that day, and that’s what was what I will remember most, that I played with a group of soccer players who loved the game and left that love on the field.
Going from Varsity Soccer to JV Basketball was a hard transition. Moving from the field to the gym; grass to hardwood; and a roaring crowd of fans, to a sparse crowd, so quiet at times that I can hear my fathers camera click. I was skeptical at first, I had heard that half the male population of NMH was trying out for JV, so I had no clue what would happen when I put away my gloves and laced up my NMH Kicks. Whatever happened, it didn’t happen quick enough because we got crushed by Vermont Academy in our first game of the year. I was a quite worried, our offense wasn’t looking that strong and neither was our defense really, but it was early in the season, its always like this, right? On top of that loss, we really didn’t have that many games either, our season had shrunk, we were playing teams who had played 6 or 7 games and they were only our 2nd or 3rd, but no excuses its basketball.
So we went out there and played, sure it may have been sloppy at times, there may have been hopeless moments but we kept at it. After one particularly horrific loss to the school-who-shall-not-be-named we worked on something called FUNDAMENTALS. Fundamentals, the word that symbolizes the least amount of fun and da mental strain of boring simplicity, but it needed to be done. We worked primarily on passing and DEFENSE. The latter being a simple concept, stop your man from doing anything offensive (to you, your game, and/or your team) without fouling.
During this time, Coach also introduced us to another idea, pride. He singled out one of my teammates who played hard everyday and played defense with pride. It may have helped that the Flu has massive hands, long fingers, and a funny way of running, but his pride helped in his ability to stop the ball. We grew rapidly into a squad that was tearing teams up, especially ones that we weren’t supposed to. We beat one varsity team and two varsity B teams all by close margins, and it came together because we hustled, and played with both heart and pride. Those were our mantras during the season, our words that brought us together and helped us fight every game, even if we were down 14 at halftime, to one of the best in our league. We played with pride and left it all on the court.
Lets remember that we love the sports that we are playing, that the way we will get better will not be through making ourselves better, but by making our teams better. Every practice, game, and season is for us to hold, cherish, and make our own. We can lead by playing every game like its our last game and supporting our teammates on the off days. That’s what being a real teammate is. Most of all, when your season looks hopeless, or a game is hard, and you’re struggling to find that extra energy you need, remember that your playing because you love the game, and that will be your motivation. Play with pride, pride for yourself, pride for your team, and pride for NMH.
I am so proud of you, Jacob!