Building Steps Dad never told me I was bad, he just said that I just needed to work on specific skills. He was a pro baseball player for the Texas Rangers. Just thinking about the pressure of living up to that level of greatness, made me realize that I have the greatest motivator right next to me. He taught me to try and do every little thing as hard as I can and that pushing yourself to your maximum can take you far in life. When I was around the age of six my father coached me in football, where he strove to make me the most polite and caring, disciplined, and willing young man. He was one of my football and lacrosse coaches. From when I was six to fifthteen during that memorable time I spent countless hours working on skills. For example, agility drills to become faster and confusing stick tricks for lacrosse to improve hand eye coordination. Just playing catch was a major practice skill for both sports. However, the most important lesson he taught me wasn’t one of these it was discipline. My dad taught me that discipline is the most important skill in sports and life and can result in a win or lose situation. I remember like it was yesterday .My third year playing football. I was nine years old and it was the first game of the season and I was playing center on offense. This kid on defense punched me in the gut every play, but the referee didn’t see it. I was so frustrated that I retaliated by hitting him back. Of course the referee saw me and called a penalty. When my dad found out what I had done he pulled me out of game, and didn’t let me play the rest of the day. He wanted me to understand that I needed