A Message for RCA Students

Our number of players is still really low at RCA. I really don't want to talk someone into playing football that has no real desire to play, but I do want to encourage you to do some self-reflecting to see if you may want to play. Practice would go better if we had some more players and all positions are still open until we play the first game. There is so much that can be learned from the game of football. Many things that you will take with you for the rest of your life. Not to mention that it's a blast to play. Practice is hard work, I have really high expectations and demands, but the game will affect you like nothing else will. You will be part of something greater than yourself; you will feel a sense of accomplishment and a flood of confidence; you will learn to push yourself farther than you dreamed you could and find that you are far more capable than you ever believed; you will strengthen your faith and you will learn about yourself, life, and love.

I know it's not for everyone, but I also believe that it's for more of you than we have playing. Just be certain that when you graduate RCA, you don't leave wondering what you missed by not playing. Don't leave with regret. Often people want to play but fear they are not good enough. Give it a try, you will never know until you do. Sometimes they are afraid of injury. Football is as safe, and safer really, than other sports - we wear armour. Accidents happen, but they will in any sport and we wear protection in football. Sometimes kids want to "focus" on another sport. We encourage our players to participate in other sports, and our training will help you in other sports. I will work with other sports' schedules and with you on training schedules. Colleges are saying more and more that they want multi-sport athletes for athletic scholarships and prefer more extra-curricular activities on applications for admission and academic scholarships. There just is no excuse for not playing. There is only one reasonble explanation and that's that football is just not for you. And you have to give it a try first to figure that out. I'm not going to beg anyone to play. But I do want you to give your decisions careful thought and attention. Like I said, I don't want you to leave with regret.

I really think we have a good group that's signed up to play already. In the end, we're going to train, practice, play, and win with or without any new players. So the question is: will you contribute to RCA Knight fooball success? Will you wish you had? Think it through before you decide that football is not for you. You may want to give it a chance first. Have no regrets!