Football Is Hard

“Football is hard…”

That’s what I tell every prospective player and family when they express interest in playing football at St. Johnsbury Academy. I don’t say this to scare them away, but rather to draw them in… to call them to a challenge, to ask them to consider doing and being more than they may have ever thought possible.

As parents, we want “what’s best for our children,” but I contend that many well-meaning parents confuse “better” with “easier.” Too often, these parents (and our society) try to protect youth from stresses, challenges, adversity, risk, and failure. The unfortunate result is young adults less prepared to contend with the inevitable challenges life throws at all of us.

My goal is to help student-athletes and parents understand how football provides ample opportunities for all of the aforementioned, and how overcoming these challenges is essential for personal development and character—ultimately building a fulfilling life. For more than four decades, I’ve either directly participated in or watched each year as players faced fears, contended with loss, and battled back through adversity, fatigue, and self-doubt. Such tribulations strengthen character, broaden capabilities, and enhance resilience.

I often reflect on JFK’s speech on our nation’s space effort at Rice University in 1962, when he said, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” He made a call to action and challenged our best and brightest to do more than anyone thought possible.

Student-athletes should play football for much the same reason:

• Football is hard mentally. Players must understand complex plays, techniques, and tactics, and make split-second decisions. The game requires mental agility and the ability to adapt to ever-changing situations on the field while an opponent attempts to do the same in time-competitive decision-making.
• Football is hard physically. It is a demanding sport requiring strength, stamina, agility, and endurance. These skills and abilities are often trained and instilled during the dog days of summer when other classmates are at the beach, lake, river, or sitting in an air-conditioned home.
• Football is hard emotionally. The intensity of physical competition, the intimidating feeling of lining up against an opponent who may be larger, stronger, or more experienced, and dealing with wins and losses—not just of the game, but of every play within the game—combine to cause highs and lows that can take an emotional toll.

As I have said in past blogs, football and the experiences it offers, have the potential to inoculate players against many of the fears, failures, and adversities they will inevitably face in life. If young men and women are to grow into the strong, confident, and resilient adults we hope for, they should not be shielded from the comparatively minor discouragements, losses, pains, and failures they will predictably encounter and overcome while playing a game. The benefits will yield dividends for decades to come.

Kids should play football because it is hard.