With the fall season coming to an end and winter sports starting up, I’d like to give a piece of advice to our athletes:

Play like a senior.

Four simple words, but when it comes down to it, they mean a lot.

As I sat with my team at the end of practice today, one of the girls said those words and they got me thinking.

What if today was the last day you had to play your game? Your fourth down, your last lap, the final seconds of something you’ve put countless hours and emotions into. How would you like to end it? Do you want to be remembered as just another player, or as someone who fought with everything they had to the very end? It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman, with another three years to give it your all, or senior who has one last chance to shine. Give every game, every meet, every match, everything you have.

While you’re practicing for hours after school or warming up for your game, you may think that what matters is this weekend and all that homework you have when you get home. The truth is, that in that moment, those things don’t matter. 

No one knows in high school that they’ll miss those long nights and hard games. The thought never crossed my mind until I looked around at the faces of my teammates tonight and realized that when my time with them is up, I’ll miss it. 

Sure, it gets hard. You get tired, you get hurt, you think you want it to be over, but when your high school career is over, it’s gone for good. You don’t get to run onto that field, jump into the pool, or step onto the court with your team again and all you’ll want is more time with those people with which you’ve shared so much of your time.

So, play like seniors people. The clock is ticking, make every second count.