Ensley explained that college recruiters don’t only look at an athlete’s skill when choosing who they are going to pick for their team, but will look for well-rounded and active students.
“I’m more excited to coach someone who’s done well in the classroom than someone who is just a good player,” he said. “The hardest thing that’s going to challenge you as you go forward is to keep yourself mentally fresh. The habits you form in school between classes are the skills that are going to help you later in life. These are the habits you need to develop right here, right now... It’s the little things that will determine what you can do.”
The players included Michael Millay from Orlando, Fla.; Matt Remaley from Colorado, Christian Poxleitner from Austria, and a local player, Matt Bahner from West Chester. Team manager Kristen Sweeney spoke directly to the girls in the audience, encouraging them to not pay attention to anyone who says they can’t do something because they are female.
Bahner said that he was a three-sport player when he was a student at Lakota West High School.
“I had to balance my time really well and that’s what’s helped me out today,” he said.
He explained that he injured himself last spring and the doctors told him that he wouldn’t be able to play for six to eight months, but because of a positive attitude and hard work, he was back on the field in three and a half months.
The players ended the session with a demonstration of their soccer skills as the coach explained that they would spend their spare time practicing ball control, which translates into self-control.
“If your teachers are constantly having to correct your behavior and your parents are constantly having to correct your behavior, somewhere down the road you’re going to encounter someone who won’t want to take on that responsibility,” he said. “So you have to learn how to control the things you do on a daily basis by resting, eating well and applying yourself in school.”
Garfield periodically invites role models and community leaders to the school for both small group and all-school assemblies to reinforce the tenets of the district’s Character Education Initiative, said counselor Cindy Smith.
“We like to have people who have been a success come in and talk about the choices they made that got them to where they are,” she said, “so the kids will know that success doesn’t just happen, but it’s something you work for.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.
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