Opening

 Hi, my name is Reid Meyerson, and I have a passion for sports that most people don't have. When I was four years old, I asked for a football for Christmas because I wanted to pretend I was the quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. I got a football for Christmas and went outside to throw the ball up to myself and act like I had just thrown myself a touchdown pass. I quickly grew out of the stage as I discovered what a baseball was when I went to my older brother's baseball game, and a foul ball rolled right to me. I begged my parents to get me a baseball for three days when they finally decided I was mature enough not to throw it through a window in the house. Me and my older brother started playing a game called pitcher-catcher. The game's rules were simple: The more strikes you get as the pitcher, the more likely you are to win. This game developed into an obsession for me.

I would cry anytime my older brother didnt want to play with me. My parents got tired of it and decided to put me into a local YMCA baseball league. I started playing Tea ball and eventually worked my way up to the coach pitch. I was the best player out there at the time just because I loved playing. My dad decided to have me try out for a travel team at eight. I ended up making the team and started playing real baseball. I was so excited that my dad wasn't lobbing me the ball anymore, so I could finally verse kids my age. Two years had passed, and I had a bad experience with a coach that made me not want to play baseball anymore. I still loved watching it but realized that playing it wasn't for me. I started playing flag football instead. I began by playing wide receiver and was good at it. I liked flag football because the coaches were friendly and cared about the kids. I was now in 8th grade and was playing in the championship. Our quarterback got hurt during the game, and the coaches knew that I was an athlete, so they decided to put me in at Quarterback. I had never played this position, so I was extremely nervous. We ended up winning the game within the last seconds. That game was the most fun I had ever had. I realized that I was meant to play Quarterback. I was entering my first year in high school and signed up to play tackle football. I also found a quarterback coach who had an excellent reputation.

My first lesson with him was my life's most challenging workout. I had never trained to be a Quarterback, so all these new drills made me super sore. I also needed to improve my technique. I was so bad at quarterback during my first year that they moved me to linebacker. I played flag football my entire life, so I had zero Idea how to hit someone. I learned quickly after realizing it was either hit or get hit. As my first year passed, I worked harder and harder at becoming a better quarterback. I was finally good enough to start on JV my sophomore year. One of the Quarterbacks on Varsity got injured, so they called me up to varsity to be the backup QB. I didnt get a lot of reps because I was a sophomore on varsity, but I got to learn from the quarterback above me. Going into my junior year, I was in the best shape of my life. I worked hard in the off-season, so I was ready to go. My head coach got fired, and a new coach came in.

Two weeks later, Covid shut everything down. I was depressed. I worked super hard in the off-season in hopes of being a starter the following year, and it all went to waste because of my coach quitting and COVID-19. We ended up having three games where I got zero reps because of the senior quarterback, who got reps because he needed film for colleges. Going into my senior year, I worked harder than the year before; I was a good Quarterback. There was also no more senior in front of me taking reps, so I was the guy. And then, a new kid transferred from another school to try and take the starting spot from me. I battled through adversity, earned the starting spot, and was elected team Captain. We ended the season going 7-3, the best record our school had in ten years. I decided not to play football in college because I wasn't dedicated enough anymore. Sports are necessary in every kid's life because they teach you everything you need to know about survival in the real world. I have a huge passion for sports, and I would love to be a team coach or general manager. I will continue to work toward this goal, but until then, I can use what I've learned from playing sports in my life now.