Senior Nate Hargrove

by Rachel Solomon

Imagine walking to football practice on a hot July morning. The sun beaming off of your new shiny helmet and all you can think about is being out on the field. Reaching the practice field you see that everyone is 2 times your size and hitting harder than you could ever imagine. The nerves start to set in. Coach Brothers tells you to go one on one in the king of the box against someone you never thought you would have to go up against… a senior. You have never felt so small and inferior in your entire life.

That’s what senior Nate Hargrove felt 4 years ago. “I was scared but excited. Then I saw how big everyone was compared to me. Saw how hard they were hitting and realized how nervous I actually was.” Soon after that nerve-wracking first practice Nate found someone he can look up to: Trent Mueller. Trent was the type of player freshman didn’t want to go to the king of the box with. Nate soon realized that Trent was the type of leader he wanted to be when he was a senior. Someone who looked intimidating but didn’t take that for advantage. “He helped people and was extremely nice, that’s the type of leader I want to be.”

Leadership is a characteristic that the NCS football team strives for. Now being in the leadership position Nate feels as though he is a decent leader. He gives advice to the freshman who are just now starting out their football journey. “Listen and respect your seniors. Go hard in every practice. Always push yourself, and don’t rely on others to push you.” Remembering that not too long ago you were that small freshman walking to football practice. Now the senior that the freshman don’t want to go one on one in king of the box with. Just like Coach Brothers said “be a leader on the field and in the classroom. You never know who is watching, so always set the example.”