Tie First Place: Matthew Alswanger’s “My Why”
One day after soccer practice my freshman year of high school, the special teams coach for the football team asked me if I had ever kicked a football. After responding no, he told me to give it some more thought and he went on his way.
Waiting for my mom to pick me up from practice, I sat in the corner of the track and watched the football team practice. I decided to put on my cleats and approach the coach. He showed me the kicking steps and one after another, I kicked the ball up and through the goalpost from 30 and even 40 yards away. After my last kick, the coaches pleadingly asked me to give football a shot.
When I told my parents, they were conflicted, but I knew I wanted to give it a chance. With a short speech memorized, I approached my soccer coach to ask if I could try football and was promptly kicked off the team for attempting to explore that opportunity.
I walked up the long hill to the football field and told the coach “you have a kicker.” Our first varsity scrimmage was a week later. I remember vividly my excitement and anxiety going out for my first extra point, ever. As I swung through the ball, I saw it go through the posts, but my vision went black. When I kicked, I was struck by a varsity player nearly three times my size. An ambulance brought me to the nearest hospital where I learned I broke my tibia, fibula, and ankle. I was put in a cast from my toes to my hip and was restricted to a wheelchair for the next three months.
The experiences of having my leg reset twice and physical therapy were painful, both physically and mentally, but they pushed me to be resilient and build my work ethic in a new way. I’d never been faced with this type of challenge, but I pushed myself to get stronger and recover so that I could come back the next season and try the sport I was beginning to fall in love with. My desire to stick with football motivated me to keep pushing myself even when the doctors said it was improbable that I would ever step foot on the field again. After over a year of hard work, I found myself back in pads and kicking once again.
Throughout my high school career, I spent countless hours studying the art of kicking. From books to articles and videos I did everything I could to improve my ability so that I could help my team. I was going to do everything within my power to be the best kicker that I could be. With a love so deep for kicking, I began thinking about continuing my football career in college. After hearing head Coach Jay Civetti speak at the Tufts football camp, I knew it was where I wanted to call home. I cherished my career there, earning many accolades such as special teams player of the year and setting multiple school records.
When my final season was taken away due to COVID I knew I wanted to finish out my career on a positive note. My hard work and perseverance allowed me to attain a spot as a graduate transfer on the football team at Duke University where I am pursuing my master’s in Management at the Fuqua School of Business.
The great game of football has taught me many important lessons. I have learned that no matter the circumstance, the most powerful motivator for me has been finding what drives me: my why. In times of struggle, the family and community bonds that football creates have helped push me to never stop striving for excellence.
Persistence is a mentality of success that is developed gradually and forged in the most difficult of times. I am confident that if I had never given football the chance I would not be who and where I am today.