A long time ago in a galaxy far far away… about 5 years ago to be exact. (Also I love star wars, just so you know) Shane and I started down this path to his development as an athlete, and ultimately our friendship. He was a young kid, who was already too big to be sitting on the bench, at about 6 feet tall and 14 years old. Shane just wanted to get some time playing in, instead of sitting on the bench for his travel soccer team. Being 14 years old and 6 feet tall and probably a buck twenty soaking wet at that point of time. Shane finding the ground with his feet, instead of his head bouncing off of it first due to his gangly nature was the first thing we had to sort out.
It has been a long road to get to this point of time. I made a lot of mistakes back then. (Let me make sure to get something straight, I still do.) I was still a relatively young post collegiate athlete, and a wet behind the ears trainer who had only recently gotten his ACSM certification at that point of time. Shane was the first person in this line of work that would change my life. He asked me to help him get some playing time in.
So our journey began. We had our ups and downs, injury, travel, school, team drama, and summer vacations. Shane learned that I was relentless. I learned he was tough. Some days I played the slave driver, other days the mentor, many days the psychiatrist, and occasionally offered sage advice, generally consisting of “I did that, don’t do that it worked out poorly. Trust me on this one you don’t want to be like me.” Which then led to a personal story in which we would both laugh. Then the Burpees or sprints would begin again.
We learned about pull-ups, and deadlifts, and cone drills, and footwork. Along the way we got a few good videos of bad dancing and goofball antics, and some life lessons. We have both grown from one another; I went from operating out of my pick up truck, and using space out of the good graces of a friend of mine, to the big green of the CA.
Life offers you challenges it’s whether or not you accept that that really sets the bar on how you are defined by them. Good luck at Colgate next year and am looking forward to watching 4 more years of great soccer!