College Case

Some say that your high school years will be the best years of your life. Hearing this as a freshman was hard to believe because I was initially overwhelmed with the transition. For my first year and a half, I had the opportunity to attend La Salle Academy until I decided to transfer to my hometown school of Johnston. During the process of transferring, I came across a man that would soon change my life. This man was Joe Acciardo, the football coach for the Johnston Panthers. It was during my sophomore year when the coach approached me about trying out for the football team the following year. Having played other team sports throughout my life such as baseball and basketball, I knew how rewarding the experience could be. I ended up establishing a relationship with this coach who would frequently tell me that I could use football as a tool to better myself and my life. He told me that football can teach you a lot about life: he was right.

Before the season even started, the man who convinced me to play football for him called together a team meeting. No one was sure what the meeting concerned but we knew it was important because he had brought all of us together. It was silent for a while before our coach finally announced to our team that he had cancer. My teammates and I all felt a collective shock that did not seem to faze our 38 year old coach. We could not believe that a man who was staring death in the face would continue to talk about football and our upcoming season. He told our team that he would not be able to coach us because he had his own battle to fight. Everyone in that room knew Coach Acciardo was a strong person, inside and out, when he told us that we needed to do the same and follow in his path. He said that each of us as individuals has our own battles to fight in life, and we have to face them head on even if it is not easy.

These words resonated with my teammates for the rest of the season. For me, they have provided inspiration and direction for my life. Watching my coach face cancer and possibly death put things in perspective for me; seeing as how all I had to do was play football and attend school. Throughout the year, we faced our battles as coach said, but we never gave up. Playing football that year was an honor and a privilege to represent our school and our coach; our thoughts were with him and his family the entire time. At the end of our season our team, with all of our efforts, was able