Fifteen-year-old Charles Delp is a Freshman here at MHS. He has just finished up his first season of football, playing defensive line, and then became a secondary running back towards the end of the season.
Throughout the year, he is involved in football, baseball, trap shooting, concert band, and possibly wrestling again. He had wrestled for a couple of years when he was younger, but had to stop for a while due to joining baseball.
“What I like to do in my free time is work out and work on myself,” said Charles.
As involved as he is, his free time still is somewhat tethered to what he is committed to.
“I love playing football. I tend to practice all the time, watch clips I need to, and research football. Everything about football,” shared Charles.
Even with his trap shooting commitments, his free time is still dedicated to becoming better at that.
“I do the live traps, you know, for my meets. Then, I take some me-time to do some schoolwork and stuff at my house.”
Charles is physically focused in life, but it’s not always just about sports. He has a pretty good friend group with whom he gets along. He feels as though his friends would describe him as “funny, smart, and kind.”
“Because I help everybody out at camp and in general. I’m nice to them, and I’m funny,” he explained.
He shared that he made most of his friends through sports, and was lucky to have them. Charles expresses his love for football and how much it has taught him as well.
“In my opinion, I love playing football just because I get to hit people, and it’s fun. But I also like football because it teaches you a lot that other sports probably don’t. It teaches you lots of physical workouts, how to push yourself even if you are physically or mentally challenged or hurt,” Delp expressed.
Even though he loves the physical aspect of football and actually being on the field, he shared the social aspect of it as well and how he has and will continue to improve himself.
“In any case, football also teaches you a lot of leadership skills. It teaches you how to first advance, even if you win or lose. It doesn’t matter if you give 100% or not. That’s why I like playing it. It’s just a really fun sport to play that I’ve been playing for a really long time.”
As he shared his love for football, he had told us that his biggest goal in life is to play football in college, and if he has the opportunity, then play for the NFL. And if that doesn’t work out, then he wants to go to tech school for welding.
“And how I’ll be doing that is work my butt off. I’ll make sure I do good in my sports, give 100% at each practice, and then I would practice my welds and do a lot of welding classes as well,” he shared.
With a focus on physical health, he will make sure to incorporate regular workouts, stay on top of mental well-being, and pay attention to nutrition, so that everything will align seamlessly.
Adding to what he said about making himself better, he feels as though sports have taught him a lot throughout the years.
“It’s taught me patience, confidence, and that even if you are in front of a whole bunch of people, always being confident in yourself. Because normally, when people watch sports, they’re not going to judge you that much. They would only judge you if you made a mistake. Sadly, that’s the case. So if you’re confident in yourself and know what you have practiced, then you’ll be fine,” he explained.
He also expresses how sports have shaped him and helped him learn more about himself.
“It’s taught me a lot of stuff. Sports have taught me not to give up even when things are difficult. It’s also taught me leadership skills, how to make friends, help your teammates, be a team player, and be more social in some cases. It’s also taught me community work, too. You have to be nice and kind to people, even if they’re mad and upset with you. It’s just taught me a lot about myself in general,” Delp expressed.
Charles believed that sports have truly impacted his life for the better. He shares that he doesn’t know what he would do without sports, but “I would feel like I would be a couch potato.”
“Sports have changed my life by really helping me out with my perseverance, my confidence, and my leadership skills. It’s taught me a lot about how I can improve myself every day, no matter what. That isn’t easy. I’ve been taught to never give up, even though I face challenges in my life. And, also, I always go 100% and never slow down,” he started to explain.
Charles, but Charlie to his friends and family, feels like he has learned so much from sports, family, and friends throughout the years.
“They’ve taught me how to control my anger, and I can help with patience. So I’ve been doing better in sports. They’ve educated me on stuff, a lot of school, and everything. And even when I feel like giving up, they’ve always helped me keep going,” Charles elaborated.
Charlie has loved sports from a young age and would watch them on TV and say, “If I play sports all my life, do as hard as I can, you know, I can be one of them, one of the pros.” And ever since then, he has been very dedicated and determined to succeed in life through sports.
