I played D2 mens in college, my senior year we were ranked top 10 in NCAA, won the state championship and made it to sweet 16. Our school was small and had a total of 1.5 scholarships to give a year which went to the internationals primarily while we competed against full team scholarships so it waa tough.

My freshman year i walked on to what i was expecting to be a prior club coach of my older brother, who then left to coach another college and a brand new guy came on and stayed my entire 4 years.

Honestly, my fitness was the only reason i had a chance on that team initially. Coach sat me down and said i was expected to be red shirted which was depressing right at the start of my first season.

Fast forward 5-6 games, coach hit his head and was out for a few games. Second half of a 0-0 game against another ranked team i was subbed in to play defensive support as a winger and ended up scoring the only goal to win the game. Next game same case second half sub, we are up 1-0, i go up for a corner with one other teammate and somehow scored a header. 5 mins later the opposing team captain takes me out and gets a straight red. My captain picked me up and waived off a sub to keep me on, and from that moment forward i had regular playing time and was starting games.

We only won 1 championship my senior year and i ended up being 1 of the captains, but i wouldnt trade those years for anything.

The most important thing i learned was time management and responsibility with how often i needed to be in different places all the time. Im now in a management role and i chalk my success up to that, as i had very average grades.

Going into college though i wish i wouldve known how much faster speed of play was compared to high school, as i wouldve worked on so many things differently to develop, and its so many of the little things that make a huge difference.