Over the next few weeks, I will be interviewing Seattle Academy students who play football for other high schools. This week, I interviewed freshman Leland Adams and senior Zeke Robinson.
Leland Adams
Q: Where do you play?
Leland: I play for Garfield. Since I actually live near Garfield, I can play for them because SAAS doesn’t provide the sport. It’s a fun experience meeting a lot of new kids at that school. It’s almost like a brotherhood.
Q: What position do you play?
Leland: I play wide receiver for offense, and for defense I play safety.
Q: Why did you decide to play?
Leland: Well, it’s kind of to get in shape, but I hadn’t played football in a while and I thought it’d be fun to play in high school. My dad played, so it’s kind of like a rite of passage so I said I’d give it a shot. I tried it out, and it ended up being fun so…
Q: Has it been worth the effort?
Leland: At times, yeah. I go to a lot of the varsity games for free and I see all the kids who are talented at football. It’s really awesome to see them play. You get in shape and you get more playing time if you’re a freshman on JV and you make new friends. So yeah, I’d say it’s worth it.
Q: What is your biggest challenge?
Leland: Probably maintaining good grades and playing football at the same time because football takes a lot of commitment, and so sometimes it’s kind of hard to get homework done. Or, if you leave school early, you have to miss a couple classes to get to football on time and be ready for a game or practice.
Q: What has been the most fun or satisfying part?
Leland: Definitely getting a win. I mean, you bust your butt in practice all week to get that win on Monday for a JV game or on Friday for a varsity game. It’s satisfying, knowing that you put in all that good work for a reason.
Zeke Robinson
Q: Where do you play?
Zeke: I play football for Garfield. We practice at Garfield and usually play at Memorial Stadium.
Q: What is your position?
Zeke: I play defensive end.
Q: Why did you decide to play?
Zeke: Because it’s my senior year and I really like the sport, so I decided to play for my last year.
Q: Has it been worth the effort?
Zeke: Yeah, it is definitely worth the effort. It’s a good team and it’s a great sport and it’s worth the effort of going down and participating.
Q: What is your biggest challenge?
Zeke: My biggest challenge is probably facing adversity on other football teams and learning to cope with that as an individual and as a team.
Q: What has been the most fun or satisfying part?
Zeke: The most satisfying part of football is making tackles and being with your team when you make a good play or do something successful together.