It's A Special Thing To Be A Senior

It is that time of year again and no I am not talking about the baseball playoffs or college football or the other great things about the fall.

One of the things I have come to enjoy and hate at the same time has become Senior Days. Coach Keeling always says it is a special thing to be a senior. I use to think it was just coachspeak, but the more I am around college athletics the more I realize like his more often than not exactly right.

Those Senior days are so emotional for the players, parents and coaches. We try hard to take of our seniors and show them how much they are appreciated. For this sometimes big ol’ gruff guy, those senior days often soften me up and I have to admit I have had to wipe the tears away a few times.

It really is a special thing to be a senior. For our kids that go through what they do on a daily basis year round to compete in what is really just a few games is remarkable. To make it through four years is pretty much mind boggling.

The commitment level is something they will take with them for life. The friendships they will take for life. College athletics is really about molding young men and women for life. I am so thankful that I get to be a small part of that. Winning is great, but life lessons are also learned from the tough loss. Coming together for a common goal those are things that any employer should be looking for.

In this blog I am going to copy a couple of things I have seen several places, but I took them directly from a former player’s Facebook page. It is from someone that knew what it was like to play through pain, both physical pain and emotional. I saw him in near tears and obvious pain getting a treatment on a painful foot in my hotel room when I was rooming with the athletic trainer on a road trip. It was that same painful treatment every day of the season just so he could practice and play a game for what. I think the following quote tells you for what.

“People don't play sports because it's fun. Ask any athlete, most of them hate it, but they couldn't imagine their life without it. It's part of them, the Hate/Love relationship; it's what they live for. They live for the practices, parties, cheers, long bus rides, invitationals, countless pairs of different types of shoes, water, Gatorade, & coaches you hate, but appreciate. They live for the way it feels when you beat the team next to you by 1 point in overtime, and you know those 2 extra sprints you ran in practice were worth it. They live for the way you become a family with your team, they live for the countless songs you sing in your head when you’re running ALL those suicides. They live for the competition, they live for the friends, the pain, heartaches, and the memories, and it’s who THEY ARE. It's who WE ARE. WE ARE ATHLETES.”

A pet peeve of mine is when people just automatically downplay Division III athletics. You hear quotes like it is just like high school or glorified intramurals. Division III athletics is so much more than that. It is the same as other levels, but a football player might run a 4.6 instead of a 4.4 or a lineman might be 6-1, 250 rather than 6-5, 325. It doesn’t mean they are here because they couldn’t play at a scholarship school. Some of them that is true, but we have a lot of players that turn down scholarships to come to Hardin-Simmons and other schools like them.

This quote comes from the same person referenced above, but it was written by a former Division III player and is kind of the Division III creed, but the words ring so true.

“It's not about getting a scholarship, getting drafted, or making Sports Center. It's a deep need in us that comes from the heart. We need to practice, play, to lift, to hustle, to sweat, to compete. We do it all for our teammates. We don't lift weights with a future Olympic wrestler; we lift with a future doctor. We don't run with a future Wimbledon champion; we run with a future CEO. It's a bigger part of us than our friends and family can understand. Sometimes we play for 200,000 fans, sometimes for 25. But we still play hard. You cheer for us because you know us. You know more than just our names. Like all of you, we are still students first. We don't sign autographs for money. But we do sign graduate school applications, MCAT exams, and student body petitions. When we miss a kick, or strike out, we don't let down an entire state. We only let down our teammates, coaches, and fans. But the hurt in our hearts is the same. We train hard. Lift, throw, run, kick, shoot, dribble, and lift some more, and in the morning we go to class. Still the next day in class we are nothing more than students. It's about pride; in ourselves, in our school. It's about our love and passion for the game. And when it's all over; when we walk off that court or field for the last time, our hearts crumble. Those tears are real. But deep down inside, we are very proud of ourselves. We will forever be what few can claim: College Athletes.”

As we come to the end of our fall sport seasons and you see a senior, be sure to let them know how much you appreciate them and how much you care about them and what they have done for our university.