The First Quarter!

Recently, I had the opportunity of capturing a day of Joppatowne high school football practice.

Prior to shooting the stills I spoke with the head coach and the conversation was like that of every head coach, very modest. I can respect that but fortunately I'm not bound to modesty.

I believe they are the best kept secret in Harford County, Maryland. People that know high school football would probably think I'm crazy but it's simple.

In the photos below there are two players that standout. The player that stayed home and played XBOX all summer and the other that worked his butt off to stay in shape. I'm sure the average viewer would say that the photos look blurry. Well, they are. I shot them so you could see what the out of shape kid felt like as the other young man pushed him to finish. Sometimes that's what it feels like when you get to the end of something that you're not prepared for. Your vision gets cloudy, your body hurts and you just want to fall out so the pain will go away.

In the world of sports you learn to overcome the thought of giving up but more importantly you learn to prepare too finish. That's why I picked Joppatowne as my sleeper this season. They have kids that don't believe in quitting or allowing their teammates to give up when things get hard. In my days at THE EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY our strength coach Jeff Connors preached to us that quitting wasn't an option and that we would be the best conditioned team on the field. Some how after 4 years of running 300's he made me a believer.

I'm sure that the coaching staff at Joppatowne would agree with me if they could. When size and speed are limited, having players that are committed and resilient makes the job much more promising at the end of everyday. These young men are examples of what preparation and putting dreams in motion are about. Keep them on your radar. I'm positive that they will produce great things this season.

Good Luck Fellas!

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Vision Beyond The Lens by -J.J. McQueen-

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