Reflection on State Championship

    As I woke up on the morning of the state championship, I knew I wasn't going to play, since I was the 2nd youngest and only freshman on the team, but I was still excited to be a part of the experiment. I treated the day as though I was going to play, hoping to simulate the nerves I would feel when we (hopefully) go back in a couple years. Throughout the first four classes, I couldn't keep my mind off of the game. At 12:30, I headed to the bus, which was leaving at 1. When we left, it seemed like half the high school was out to send us away as we left. The drive down was quiet, everyone focused on the game. When we finally arrived at the stadium, silence fell on the bus. It hit everyone. This is the biggest stadium any of us had played in.


     For the next couple of hours, we lingered around the stadium. We took pictures and watched the first half of the girls championship. At halftime, we walked into the locker room. It wasn't the nicest, but it was all part of the experience. We got ready and went out to warm up. It was no different than any other warm up, which was good because it kept us calm. By the time the game started, everyone was anxious but excited. About 1,000 people had come, the largest crowd for any game I had been involved in. After 100 minutes of nerves, we were state champions. We stormed the field as the rain had gone from a drizzle to a downpour. For the next 30 minutes, nobody knew what to do with themselves. We all were going crazy in the rain. After we were presented the trophy, we went into the locker room happier than we could've imagined. After getting tons of "Congratulations!", we got back on the bus and headed back on a surprisingly quiet ride back. Even though this was 3 weeks ago, I remember it like it was yesterday.