Class of 2020 student-athletes to this year's players: 'Make every moment you have together count'

The adrenaline rush surrounding the kickoff of a new high school football season still reverberates throughout the Chattanooga area. From small rural communities to inner city programs, the anticipation for the South's most popular sport reaches its crescendo for players, coaches and fans Friday night.

This time, however, the excitement is tamped by the uncertainty of whether the season will finish out this fall as those before it have, with state championship games scheduled for December, or if health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic will force a repeat of the heartbreaking interruption teams and athletes experienced this past spring.

In mid-April, when the TSSAA officially canceled all spring sports, Soddy-Daisy athletic director Jared Hensley summed up the feeling of most fans when he said: "I'm just sick over this. I know there are more important things going on right now than playing games, but we live in a region where almost everybody has some connection to sports, so this is just another really tough blow. It's depressing.

"You've got an entire class of kids who will be living examples of not taking anything for granted. When we do get back to playing sports, the kids who still get to play will remember this and hopefully will never take another game or day at practice for granted ever again."

Staff file photo / Soddy-Daisy athletic director Jared Hensley

With those words in mind, the Times Free Press asked a group of area teenagers - athletes who just graduated after having their final prep season cut short - to write letters expressing their feelings and to offer advice to the players beginning the season for their chosen sports.

To this year's high school athletes, and especially the seniors:

I would like to offer you some advice on your upcoming year of athletics and a school year that seems full of uncertainty. I was fortunate enough to play football on Friday nights my senior year and I am eternally grateful. However, I watched slowly as the rug was pulled out from under me and my baseball senior season vanished as fast as it started.

Years of hard work, dedication, and hoping to see next level opportunities arise were taken from me and many others. I was angry, sad, hopeful and many other emotions as I watched the last semester of high school become something out of a bad movie.

I learned a few things through this experience. The thing that stuck out to me the most was that I could not change the situation. Everyone was in the same boat that I was in. There was no play that could be drawn up for a last-minute victory to beat this thing. I had many conversations with my friends that were in the same situation, my family, and coaches. We were all holding on to hope that some sort of season could be salvaged.

My hope is that you get the chance to play your entire senior seasons. Most people think it's just a game, but it's not to us. It's much more than that. It's family, life lessons, brotherhood, and for some that's all we have. If that doesn't happen please know that you are not alone and look to the things that you can control in your life and find the blessings in that. We have been taught our whole lives to adapt and overcome obstacles in our path. Enjoy the time that you do get to have with one another and do not take one second for granted. Make every moment you have together count like it's your last because one day it will be.

- Madox Wilkey (Red Bank baseball, football)

Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Red Bank's Madox Wilkey pitches during a game at Hixson on April 1, 2019.

I never thought the last time I would put a jersey on would be March 11, 2020. We had only played 14 of our 30-game season and we were just starting region play. I didn't think I would walk off the field that day and never get to put the jersey back on. I experienced a lot the night of our last game. Not only would it be my last game, but it was my last time in the locker room on game day, my last at-bat, and my last ground ball. Looking back on it now, I wish I would have taken advantage of that last night. I should have felt blessed to even be out there playing the game rather than getting down on myself for making an error or getting out when the team needed that base hit to score a run to sway the momentum.

I remember at the beginning of the season when Coach (Eric) Beagles called me into his office before a practice and said, "We are a young team and we need a senior to show the freshmen and sophomores how to push themselves in every practice, no matter what is going on in life."

Baseball should be fun. It should be an escape from reality, a place where you can put all your problems to the side and play your heart out for the guy next to you. Our team motto was "You get to play baseball today!" You get to compete with your brothers who you have built a bond with through the offseason as well as in the classroom.

Before our last game, Coach Beagles brought us together and said "Play where your feet are," and that has stuck with me because you can't worry about the next game until the game you are currently playing is finished. Ephesians 5:15-16 states: "Be very careful then how you lie - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." I believe the words Coach Beagles gave to us before that last night of baseball were put on his heart by the Lord because he was warning us of what was yet to come.

The most emotional time through all of this was the night before what was scheduled to be our senior night. As I sat in my room crying and trying to get everything off my chest I began typing out my thoughts in a document. As tears dropped onto my phone I finally came to the realization that everything was over.

I wrote: "Tonight was supposed to be senior night and I'm missing it more than ever with my guys. It breaks my heart to know that I couldn't put that jersey on for the last time and go play my heart out. I will never get to experience the heartbreak of losing a close game or the thrill of walking it off. I will never again get to tie my cleats and put the hat on and say 'I get to play baseball today!'"

Please do not take a game for granted. Play it like it's your last because you never know when it can end. Take it from me, you'll never get these days back, so enjoy every second because you never know when you will have to say your goodbyes to something you care so much about.

- Nolen Dietz (Heritage baseball)

Staff photo by Robin Rudd / Baylor center fielder Makayla Packer catches a short fly ball during the Lady Red Raiders' 2-1 win against GPS for the TSSAA Division II-AA softball state title on May 23, 2019, in Murfreesboro.

Missing my senior season of high school made me realize to never take for granted the times you put on your jersey or step out on that field or track. Cherish every moment of doing so because it can be taken so fast; out of nowhere. Last spring started as just taking a break to keep the number (of COVID-19 cases) down, but we would be coming back to finish our season. But that became never coming back and finishing classes online. It was very heartbreaking, like a dream that I'm waiting to be woken up from.

I was looking forward to going to my senior prom, senior trip, and was excited to reach all my goals in softball and track - finishing out being a state champion in softball and all my track sprints. But in the end I had to say goodbye to all my friends by social distancing. My advice to others is never put off to tomorrow what you can do today. Take one day at time. Have long-term goals but live them like it's short term. As you know, things change daily. So have fun, live life, laugh and enjoy every moment you have.

- Makayla Packer (Baylor softball, track and field)

2020. Man, that has a nice ring to it. So I thought at the beginning of the year anyway. 2020 was supposed to be a year of new accomplishments, new friends, records to be broken, and so much more. But what we received was not expected.

As an athlete, the amount of time training and hard work outweighs the time of the actual game itself. From days in the weight room, to hitting in the cage, then going to the field, and finally finishing on the field, the life as an athlete is hard, it's a struggle, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

When one dedicates themselves to something they love, they'll find a desire to be the best no matter the consequences.

But as we all know, fairytale stories only come true in the movies. Until the COVID-19 virus, the Bradley baseball team was looking to have a strong season, one that the program has been waiting for. But what we got was one district win and a shortened trip to Orlando, Florida.

The reality is, life is not fair, one moment you'll go from saying "the sky's the limit" to mourning that you can't even see the sky because we are quarantined inside. Losing your senior season flat-out sucks. You do not get to participate in your senior night, you don't get to finish the school year with your friends, and most importantly, the class of 2020 was robbed of memories that never had the chance to be made.

In the Bible, II Corinthians 4:8-9 states: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."

My head coach (Travis Adams) said it best: "We are bulldogs." He used that term to refer to several guys, meaning that we are fighters; no matter how big the opponent's bark, they were not going to beat our bite.

So class of 2021 and those to follow, don't take the time you have right now for granted. It's a gift and if you don't want it, there are hundreds of students in the 2020 class that I am sure would take it in a heartbeat. Live every second with a purpose. God bless.

- Riley Black (Bradley Central baseball)

Staff photo / Bradley Central's Riley Black pitches during a District 5-AAA tournament game against visiting Ooltewah on May 3, 2019.

This past school year was unexpectedly cut short. We all unfortunately missed out on the rest of the school year along with not getting to play sports and all the fun activities that conclude each year. It was really disappointing to all, but it especially was to the senior class. It was very devastating to me not only because we didn't get to have all the usual fun activities for the seniors - prom and graduation - but the saddest part was that I didn't get to play my last season of softball.

So to all my senior athlete friends playing, please put in all the effort and energy you have to offer at every conditioning, practice and game. Because once it's gone, you're going to miss every little thing about it - those hard practices, the coach yelling at you, winning and losing games, your teammates, hitting that home run, making that winning catch, scoring the game-winning touchdown, or making that last-second buzzer-beating shot. All those memories that you make while doing it, you're going to miss and wish that you hadn't taken it all for granted, because I sure do. Please go out and play every game with all your heart and like it's going to be your last, because you never know when it might be.

- Madison O'Neal (Whitwell softball)

Contributed photo / Former Whitwell softball player Madison O'Neal

The greatest lesson in sports is not so much the wins or the losses, but rather all the things that must be learned from each of them. They offer you challenges and opportunities to rise to the occasion. They are a virtual microcosm of life, a playing field of lessons to be learned and incorporated into the daily routine that life becomes. To those who participate in them, they can be a vital resource for future success.

Over the course of the last several months, life has dealt many of us setbacks and hurdles to overcome. Loved ones, jobs, freedoms we take for granted and yes even sports seasons have all been lost. Losing something you love is perhaps the hardest lesson life will ever teach you.

A lesson, though, is not a lesson if something is not learned from it.

Losing a sports season is unfair. It was cruel and hurtful. It robbed us of those lessons both winning and losing teach. It denied the sharpening of the tools athletes are so prone to utilize when dealing with life's tough times. The cost wasn't just a season of games, but rather the practices; the time spent working together, sweating towards a common goal. The strengthening of friendships and the tightening of the bond between teammates. You will never get that time back.

My hope for all of you is not simply a complete season, but rather the lesson that time is by far the most valuable asset available to you. Use every second of it as if you might not get another. People who understand the value of time are usually the ones doing something valuable with their time. Enjoy every minute of it, and best of luck to each of you!

- Connor Beach (Ooltewah baseball)

Staff photo by Robin Rudd / Ooltewah baseball player Connor Beach follows through after making contact during a home game against Bradley Central on April 9, 2019.

Losing the spring hurt. A lot. As a class, we've ended every season in the state championship game, twice as victors, and this was our best team yet. A No. 2 national ranking, four players on the preseason All-American watch list, depth, and the chance to pursue a national championship ... it was the culmination of years of hard work and culture development. Watching that opportunity disappear stung, but it reinforced important lessons.

First, understand that bad things are going to happen. We've experienced season-ending injuries, a teammate with a tumor, bad calls in big games, tough losses and the early demise of our senior season. You will experience hard times this year. Even if you win every game, you will be forced to confront hard times. So, how you respond to adversity will define you, which leads us to ...

Second, cherish the good and make the best out of the bad. Gratitude is an antidote to fear and self-centeredness. Cherish the good daily, and choose gratitude when you wake up. Doing that will allow you to make the best of bad situations. A loss in a big game can fuel your fire. We won only one of our first six games last year before rattling off an unbeaten streak that led to a state title. A bad call in a big game can be a reminder that life isn't always fair, and that winning in life will require us not just to be better than an opponent, but to find and give our very best. An injury to a star player can give him the opportunity to support the team from the sidelines and show that he doesn't think it's all about him. Or in our most recent case, the loss of our season to a pandemic reminded us to seize the day and not take things for granted. Cherish the good and make the best out of the bad.

Third, lead with positivity. When all is said and done, you'll look back on the friendships and memories, and the spirit of the team and those relationships will stick with you. Leave a legacy by leading with positivity. Encourage each other and support your coaches, especially when times are tough. Be there for struggling teammates. You're part of something bigger than yourself. Make that team better and move that team forward by choosing positivity and hope instead of being blown and tossed by the wind.

Good luck. Cherish every sprint, every long bus ride, the wins and the losses, and the times in the locker room. It will be gone before you know it.

- Andrew Prescott, Wright Self and Noah Tremain (McCallie soccer - on behalf of the class of 2020)

Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / McCallie goalkeeper Andrew Prescott clears the ball during a game at Dalton on March 15, 2019.

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.