NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — As high school football season inches closer along with other fall sports, local athletes will look to compete for state championships. That foot-tall VHSL trophy signifies being best in their respective class throughout the season and officially etches themselves into their high school’s history books.
However, history that a trophy can’t define also happens in the process, as necessary bonds that are formed with teammates who will spend five, six, or even seven days per week with one another, getting better in every aspect.
And growing those relationships is what this is all about. You often hear the word family used in sports. These athletes spend so much time with one another, that realizing the importance of being there for your teammates physically, mentally, and emotionally can’t be understated.
But besides what’s happening in their respective sports, student-athletes are juggling many other important tasks, among them learning and their well-being off the field.
According to a 2023 study done by the National Library of Medicine, 43% of athletes disclosed they were moderately stressed with all that sports, and the commitment they bring, take out of them.
That stress can come in many different forms — and not just on the field. Education is a huge one, especially for the high-level athletes in the area who are getting looked at by colleges around the country.
Take Phoebus sophomore quarterback Maurikus Banks and Maury senior defensive end Ari Watford, for example.
Both of these athletes play at a very high level for their respective schools. Both athletes carry at least a 3.5 GPA, and both of these athletes are garnering interest from colleges around the country.
They’re just a small sample of what millions of student-athletes go through ever year, balancing their performance on the field with their grades and lives off of it, along with what’s next. It all takes a toll on them.
Banks’ moment came last year, as a freshman, when his number was called after the Phantoms’ starting quarterback went down with an injury. He stepped up and led Phoebus to its third-straight state title.
“He’s special,” said his coach, Jeremy Blunt.
And so it began — colleges reaching out to Banks trying to get him to commit to their programs, three years before he graduates high school. All of this comes at him while he’s trying to maintain a delicate balance of a 3.9 GPA and his high-level of play on the field for Phoebus, along with a normal lifestyle for a 15-year-old off of it.
Banks received his first collegiate offer from Old Dominion just a few months after that state title game.
But this entire process is incredibly new to him.
“I just have to stay on the right path,” Banks said. “Really just put in work for the next season so we can win another one.”
Watford, on the other hand, has gone through the entire process that Banks is just starting, and for him, it began when he was 13.
Twenty-nine colleges offered Watford, ranked by 247Sports as the top high school player in Virginia and the No. 3 defensive end in the country, to come and play for them at the next level, all while holding a 3.5. GPA.
At the beginning of the year, he committed to play college football at ACC powerhouse Clemson.
“It allows me to focus on my team,” Watford said. “All the guys behind you, I’ve been able to grow with them and build relationships.”
Watford said selecting Clemson as his home for the next four years was a weight off his shoulders, allowing him to continuously be there for his team and teammates. That, above all else, has been the biggest change for him since making his commitment official.
“It’s less pressure,” Watford said. “I know where I’m going. It feels good that I found a place I want to call home.”