Freshman football player motivated to change position

Being the youngest player on a varsity sports team is not something to be taken lightly. Freshman, Avante Dickerson, is one of only two freshman on the varsity football team this coming season.

“It’s really exciting to be on varsity and such a high level at a young age,” Dickerson said.

The transition to varsity from club football didn’t happen overnight. For Dickerson, football season is all year. He had to work hard everyday throughout the school year and in the summer.

“Avante is an athletic young man and playing on varsity allows him to play at a higher level,” varsity coach, Brett Froendt said.

Dickerson’s goal for this coming season is to become a starter, but in order to do that he has to work hard in practice.

“The coaches say varsity football practices are a lot different than the freshman team’s practices. The freshman’s practices are not as physical as varsity,” Dickerson said.

Dickerson plays for the love of the game. “I don’t have any specific motivations. I just play,” Dickerson said.

He doesn’t worry about winning or losing as long as he learns from his mistakes and becomes a better player from it.

Football isn’t just fun and games. There are some things that don’t naturally come and players must work hard to achieve.

“An area I need to improve in is offense because I am not on offense yet and I need to study plays so I can hopefully be on offense by sophomore year,” Dickerson said.

Playing on varsity comes with a lot of stress and pressure. The varsity team plays in front of a big crowd and players do not want to let them down. “I deal with pressure by not thinking and just doing,” Dickerson said.

“If you put your mind to something, you’ll be able to do anything you want. My mindset is to be the best it can be and look where it got me,” Dickerson said. “To play at the varsity level or any level, you have to have a good mindset and be able to commit and grind for what you want.”