WE CAN'T TEACH EFFORT
BY ERIC WILLIAMS

According to The American Heritage Dictionary “effort is the use of physical or mental energy to do something or exertion”. The amount of “effort” you exert can make the difference in whether or not he or she is successful in completing a task.

My football Coach always says “We Can’t Teach Effort” whenever the team doesn’t practice hard. What Coach means is that he can’t teach a player how to give a hundred and ten percent on every play. That is a choice that each person makes. Putting my all into blocking can get the team a touchdown rather than a run for 50 yards and running routes at full speed could get the team a long touchdown pass as opposed to a reception for 30 yards. My Coach’s constant reminders about effort have impacted my life even off the football field. I now know that my “effort” can make a difference in me accomplishing whatever obstacle or goal that I’m trying to achieve.

Coach’s lessons have followed me off the field, whenever I put my best effort into a homework assignment, I’m rewarded with a good grade or whenever I give one hundred and ten percent at work I’m rewarded with a gift card. Putting forth effort isn’t always an easy task. It’s quicker to take the easy route. When I fully apply myself, the outcome is always much better. If it was easy, everybody would apply it to his or her live.

People that really want to achieve a specific goal become successful because of the sacrifices they make. I recently chose to sacrifice hanging out with my friends and stay home to write a paper all weekend. My teacher knew I had worked hard on the paper and she was really impressed. She said “Eric’s paper was the best and most original out of all my eleventh grade classes.” My effort and sacrifice separated my paper from the rest of the class.

My perseverance has not only brought me success in the classroom, but it has led to my success on the field. One of my goals I achieved so far this season was getting more playing time. Before the season started Coach told me I wasn’t going to get any playing time this season. But, I stayed positive and gave a lot of effort at practice and now I’m on almost every special team. That’s one small step of success I have achieved due to not giving up and working hard for something I really wanted.

Experiencing the accomplishments I’ve made in sports and my life due to the effort I’ve put in has made me buy into what my Coach has always told me. Making sacrifices in life will set me in the right direction to become a great student in college and a good American citizen. I feel that if I give effort, the sky is the limit and I could complete any task before my eyes. I know Coach doesn’t mention effort a million times so his players will only succeed at football. The Coach mentions it so we can apply it to life - being a great husband, a great father, and a great human being.