Brian J. O'Hara Memorial Scholarship

My teammates and coaches are what improved my character the most. Coming from a small school every coach at every level knew who you were and supported you endlessly. When someone gives you support like my coaches did, it makes you want to be better. This not only made me a better player, but also a person because I knew they would hold me accountable if I did something wrong, and cheer me on when I did something right. I learned how to be a leader sophomore year when I finally was on a team with my brother again who was a senior. I spent the year watching, and learning how he led. My junior year when my coaches named me captain I was honored as I knew they were putting a lot of trust into me naming me a captain as a junior. That year I not only saw my leadership on the football field change, but I also saw it in the classroom. I challenged myself with harder classes and stayed on top of my work to set an example for our players. Football was also a gateway into me doing community service where our coach always had optional opportunities for us to help out in the community after doing a few of events I felt good about myself, and really wanted continue to do more in the future. I just like seeing the smile on the peoples faces because I'm no perfect man, but when I do projects I feel Gods grace. One of my favorite events I did was one of my first. Eight of us from our team helped clean out an older lady's yard, so she could put a pool in. The smile on her face after we were done just made me feel good deep down just like when the Grinches heart grew three times larger. The most important impact football has had on me is it taught me that life can change quickly, so enjoy it. We are a smaller school, but faced a lot of tragedies the past few years. Last year we had one of our coaches pass away during the season it was hard to recover from that, and play the next week. This year was the most painful one of them all. One of my teammates whom I grew up with lost his dad. I was crushed as he was not just my friends dad but was also a coach to his son, and I for many years. The emotional pain I was going through was tough. A week before he gave me a big hug on senior night. I did not know, but that would be the last time I saw him. He always kept watching us though as a day before he passed he said to my dad that he can't wait to see us make a district championship game. All I wish I could say to him is WE MADE IT FOR YOU.

As I dragged my feet down the stairs to our locker room, I heard the slamming of helmets, the low whispers of conversations and the muffled sobs of my teammates who just played their last football game. As I sat down with my face in the palm of my hands, tears of my own running down my face, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see a freshman standing over me. He thanked me for everything I had done for him. He told me he looked up to me. After he stepped aside, teammate after teammate came up to me and thanked me for the example I set and the impact I had on them. Until that moment I had no idea how influential I was to my teammates. One of the most humbling moments of my life was being voted by my peers to be a captain of my football team. When my name was called I was so grateful and honored. As a captain, I was in charge of leading my team, representing us to the community, and being a spokesperson for the program to our athletic director. I participated in several fundraising events and community service projects involving the team. My favorite community service projects included serving breakfast at our local VFW, helping to run youth football games, and coaching youth players in the community.  Looking back on my football career and the night my team played our last game together, I can see the many ways that football improved my character. Waking up before the sun to practice during the summer while my friends were still asleep, taught me discipline. I learned how to be a part of something bigger than myself by being a small part of a larger goal and I learned how to work hard by giving effort everyday at practice, lifts, or games. I believe I was a successful leader because I made sure that everyone on the team felt important, from the starters to the freshman. I accomplished this by coordinating rides for underclassmen to get to team dinners so that they could bond with the rest of the team. In the weight room, I took time away from my own workout to teach the freshman how to properly do exercises that they were struggling with. I made sure to tell the unsung heroes of our team that I appreciated them after every game. Football gave me plenty of opportunities to learn how to handle disappointment and failure, but it also taught me to persevere. I may not have the opportunity to lead a football team in college, but I can still find a community to be a part of and use what I’ve learned to build a team, achieve new goals, and give back.