I never thought it would happen . I never thought I would be playing under the lights on friday nights, especially as a sophomore. I had no idea I would ever be good enough to play on varsity football. I remember every little detail about that week of football practice. How the leaves where just starting to change and how that whole week of practice was pretty warm for that time of year, and I had no idea what was to come on that Monday in October. When I got moved up to “play with the big boys.” just like every monday no one really wanted to go to practice, but we all just wanted to get it over with. I came down just like everyday after school slowly, and feeling like I didn't want to be there. The mood on the field was a little different because it was homecoming week. I stood in the same spot where I always put my shoulder pads on and tied my cleats up. Mr. Martin called my name “Payton.” I was beyond nervous just because he usually doesn't talk to the players one on one, especially a j.v. player. I slowly jogged up next to him and replied “yeah, coach?” He looked at me and said “you're on varsity.” I was in disbelief, I looked at him shocked because I thought I misunderstood what he said.

“Thank You.” thats all I could say.

Thats all that was going through my mind, finally someone must have noticed what i've done. I couldn't believe I was now on varsity. “playing with the big boys.” As my friends and family would always tell me.

That whole week of practice threw me for a loop. Tuesday and Wednesday  where pretty abnormal because I was so used to having a tough practice on tuesday then having pre-game on wednesday. That one extra day of practice made a huge difference that I wasn't used too. I was the smallest sophomore on the Varsity team, which wasn't a big deal. I just felt out of my comfort zone like I wasn't suppose to be there.

Thursday on Varsity was always different in a way for football practice and for one reason only, pre game. Every Thursday all of the Varsity football players get to walk “on the field of battle.” For one final practice, kind of like a rehearsal before the big day. On Varsity I was a little intimidated during pre game because I was so used to being one of the better players on the field and I fell to the bottom in under a week. It didn't help that the whole practice was so fast paced. But it was finally my turn . I walked up into the slot position which was a position I usually didn't play and Mr. Martin said “run a five.” I knew the passing routes like the back of my hand. I shook my head and got into position.There was a split second of silence, “Hike.” Skylar got the snap and I was off to the races trying to go as fast as my legs would carry me. I thought to myself I better catch this pass. I ran out the five yards and ran to the right just as the route was designed and as soon as I turned my head around  the pass was right there.Right through my hands , I put my head down in disappointment. Waiting to hear the worst of it , and to my surprise I heard someone call out “Hey you'll get the next one.” I felt so relieved that he wasn't mad that I dropped my first pass on Varsity. The rest of the practice seemed to go pretty smooth and I felt pretty confident playing on the Varsity level.  

To this day pregame is still one of the best days of the week, I never thought I would be one of those players to get moved up. It was an honor to be part of something as big as Varsity football at that age,especially for this community and how football always seems to have some kind of impact on everyone. This season is going to be the best one yet, because I think a lot of people both on the team and community can see that things are changing. I would've never noticed the difference if I wasn't on Varsity my sophomore year. I can see the little things like how people are flying around and actually anxious to put their armour on the next day. We all have a shot at changing tradition for our school's football program.