Play Hard... Don't suck!! Those words are ingrained in my memory, and have become a part of my mantra since I was a little boy. I played sports from minor league, peewee, youth basketball, all the way up through high school. To be a good teammate, you must encourage one another, support one another, lift up one another, celebrate one another, and at times cry with one another. Matt Greene was my coach in baseball, basketball, and football during my youth in middle school years. He taught us to play hard, and try not to suck as he would say, but more importantly, he taught us how to be good and faithful stewards, not only on the court or field, but also in life. the lessons I learned in playing sports will last me a lifetime. I've always heard the parents and my mother and even coach Matt say that "it's more than a ball game." I never really knew what those words meant or how it would resonate in my life as I got older. For most of my childhood, my mother was a single parent to make sure that we were not only involved in sports, but that we were involved in church and helped out in the community where we lived. Unfortunately, my father has not been around since I was two years old and we looked to sports to replace that "father figure." Not only were my coaches inspirational to me, but my teammates were just as important in my growth and development. I am naturally an introverted person who typically does not like to be in large crowds. I have a very close circle of friends, but sports made it impossible to keep to myself. As someone who has been on the autism spectrum since being diagnosed at three years old, my teammates were the ones that helped me socially become a better person. I know that I may not have always been the best teammate and had outwardly encouraged and lifted up my teammates, but I always silently cheer them on, if not loudly from the sideline, the bench, or even in the game. Of all the things that I have learned playing sports, the most important is that you have to put God first. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not where I need to be, or should be in my walk at this time in my life, but when you have a coach as amazing as Matt Greene, who put his faith above everything else, and made sure that prayer was done before every game, some of that still lingers in my mind. In fact, when it came time for me to make the decision to follow, Christ, I didn't want my pastor to baptize me, I wanted my coach to baptize me that Coach was Matt Greene. That Coach and my teammates taught me so much about the game of life that I will take forever into adulthood.