ch of his success to his team. He said, “It’s the team that wins the games. They’re the ones that enabled me to do as well as I did, and I gave everything I had for them in return. I’m nothing on the field without my team.” Palafox like many other players have attributed their personal success to their team, and it can be said that this is a result of the lessons players have undergone by their coaches. Loyalty is also another trait that coaches have highly stressed. Many times in my own personal football career my coach instructed us in this trait. An example of this was the fact that we were not to talk to anyone but fellow players before a game. This would show that our concentration and attention were only on the task at hand, and the people that would enable our victory. Such loyalty has been shown in other contexts as well. Norton Kim, another highly decorated first team player said, “There’s a lot of times where I’ve gotten into fights because (people) were messing with my friends… They’re (football teammates) like my brothers.” On and off the field, many high school football players have shown in action and deed how much the loyalty taught to them through the game has affected their lives. Finally, the ethic of working hard can safely be said to have been taught to just about every football team in the nation. David Nelson, a football coach at the high school level said about football, “…it requires exhausting hard work, to the point of drudgery.” (Nelson, 43). In support of this, special training camps notoriously called “Hell Week”, have been formed around the nation for high schools. During these “Hell Week” training period, players have to condition much harder than normally, as this weeds out players unwilling to work hard, in addition to bringing the willing players into shape. Exercises such as th...
