Spruce Creek Softball

Nominated by: Hailee Megge

?Champions aren?t made in gyms, on courts, or fields.  Champions are made from something deep inside them; a desire, a dream, a vision.?
-Muhammad Ali
And it?s these dreams and these visions that make our world what it is today; full of people who aren?t afraid to look fear in the eye. People who will rise above the challenges faced on their walk of life. People who will keep fighting through pain, disappointments, and adversity and come out on top. People who will always give a total effort even when all odds seem against them. And at the end of the day when their skin becomes old and wrinkled and their limbs stiff and frail they will look back and see trophies upon trophies, metals of every color, awards, plaques, and ribbons. But when they look deeper; when they turn away from the tangible plastic and shiny metal and turn to themselves and who they have become as a person, they will see that something much bigger has taken place. That every challenge met and overcome, every lesson learned, every victory won, every defeat taken, and every time they refused to quit transformed them into who they are today: a true champion. The word ?champion? runs deep and wide. A champion isn?t measured by the number of trophies she has but by her attitude, her character, her composure; by her drive, her desire, and her heart. At Spruce Creek High School, this is the champion we work to create every moment of every day.
As a team, we realize just how important it is to be a champion off the softball field as well as on it. Our coach once said, ?Softball is much more than a game; it is life. Take the situations, lessons, downfalls, and triumphs from this season and apply it to life.?  To back up our deep understanding of this critical concept, just last season we were crowned All State 6A Academic Champions obtaining the highest GPA in the state of Florida. We take great pride in this accomplishment and continue to work hard in school as it is most important to keep our excellent grades and high GPAs.
Aside from winning innumerable softball games and obtaining excellent grades, we also make it a priority to help others in our community. After season is over or on days we have off we invite the special education kids from our school to come out to the softball fields with us. We do numerous activities like basketball, kickball, and on hot summer days, water balloon fights! These days are very rewarding for our whole team. Seeing the smiles on the kids faces, being their friends, and helping them feel like they belong fills each of us with a sense of self accomplishment and knowledge that we can make a positive difference in someone?s life every day. This ultimately makes us better people and helps us on our way to becoming true champions.
Sadly, last season our teammate?s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and they were struggling to pay for her treatments. We came together and played a ?Breast Cancer Awareness? softball game donating all the money we raised to help pay for her treatments. Unfortunately, this season a player from Deltona High School?s dad has been placed in an educed coma because of a respiratory disease he?s fighting. In order to get him out of the coma the family needs to come up with money to pay for his treatments. To help with this, we are once again coming together to have a softball game and will donate all of our profits to the Deltona family to help pay for his treatments.
?Two hundred fans, Two teams, One cause.? ?is our motto.
In the end it doesn?t matter what colors we sported or what uniform we wore. It?s about the player in the uniform and who she was when she wasn?t wearing it because when you come right down to it, ?When it?s time to hang up our cleats, we?re going to look back and remember not every individual play but the feeling we got when we won a game,  made a difference, changed a life. And we?ll smile knowing that these are the moments that defined us as champions.?  –Hailey Megge