They could feel their legs giving up. They could not run for much longer, but they wanted to get better and practice more to win the next football game. “They” are the San Pasqual freshman football team. 

Getting into the freshman football team takes a lot of hard work and dedication. There are also many steps to prepare the players to play and win. 

 “It was killing me daily,” said Giovanni Pedro, a freshman on the football team. 

The first step to get onto the team is filling out the forms and preparing themselves throughout the summer. The players will not be able to practice with the older players until they enter high school. Even though they don’t get to practice with the upperclassman, they do have access to the San Pascual weight room to get in shape and prepare themselves to play football for the school. 

The next step is gaining sports clearance from the school. Without sports clearance, the player will not be able to participate in activities regarding football. The player will have to be medically cleared to participate in activities. Coaches inform the players about gaining sports clearance two weeks before school starts because to get the clearance they need a physical. This will clear them and make sure they are physically able to handle the challenges of the practices and the games. 

After being cleared the player will then be able to practice. This is the most challenging part because of the daily exercises. “It was pretty hard. We went through a lot of drills and we went through conditioning and stuff,” says Giovanni Pedro, a SPHS freshman football player.

Conditions and practicing are a daily routine. This helps the players to grow strength and again prepare themselves for the big games.

After all of that comes the fun part. The games. The players will play against other schools throughout the school year. There will be ups and downs throughout the whole year. The players will have to play in front of audiences and will be cheered for by their school. They will also attend some pep rallies in their honor. 

Even though there is a lot of work involved in getting onto the team, there are also many lessons that the players will learn. Lessons like self-control, discipline, and teamwork. 

Working towards entering the San Pasqual freshman football team, or any football team is worth the hard work because it “teaches players skills and attitudes that can be used their whole lives,” says Jay Parker, the San Pasqual JV football coach.

Football is a good sport that teaches many lessons and holds many benefits.