NCSA caught up with football standout Ty Whitton about his high school career and the opportunity to compete at the college level.
NCSA: What motivates you before a big game? What's your pre-game ritual(s)?
Whitton: The chance to upset a big team and grab attention from nearly everyone gets not only me, but my teammates also. Just thinking about how my team can show up a team with incredible reviews or one that's always playoff bound. Knowing that I've practiced extra hard and have memorized so many different plays just for this game, makes me want to go out and let all that I've practiced for, out. In all, my motivation is solely based on how hard I work during practice and the intensity I've been using the whole week. My motivation before a big game is to beat the other team worse than any team has beat them in history.
NCSA: What are you looking forward to if and when you get the opportunity to play on a collegiate level?
Whitton: I'm looking forward to increasing my knowledge of my position to the collegiate level. When I get to the college level, I'll be excited to play with a team that acts as a family and coaches that know how to coach at the collegiate level. In college, I'll become a bigger, stronger and faster player as well. The main thing I'm looking forward to when I get the opportunity to play at the college level, no matter who I play for, is that my dream of playing football in college, ever since I knew about college football, would be completed and reached. Reaching my dream or goal to play football in college would make my dreams come true, of course. Not only would it make me happy, but it would show my parents that I've done well so far in life, that I'm going far.
NCSA: Why did you get involved in the sports you played in? (Is it a family tradition, do you admire an athlete in the sport)?
Whitton: I got involved in football early, at the age of four, give or take a year. I was always outside playing with my plush football, until I grew older of course. Since then, I've had a certain feeling that football was my sport. I've always felt that I have more passion than anyone else on my team and the want to work hard. I got involved in football because, I know, it's been the greatest sport to play in my life and it's changed me incredibly. It's given me different levels of character and the want to win, and to me, I will never step away from the character and the want to win that I earned on the grassy fields of competition. I was never pushed into playing or persuaded at all. I joined the football team, solely based on the fact that football is my life and I would do anything to be able to continue my level of play and to have fun too.
NCSA: Tell us about your interactions with college coaches so far.
Whitton: I've had many interactions with college coaches. They're not Division 1 college coaches, but I would honestly do with any great interactions period. I've only gotten letters and emails so far from college football coaches from Lake Erie College at the tip top of Ohio, to Trinity College down in the heart of Texas. I'm proud that I can pull in these coaches, not by myself, but with the help of NCSA also, big time! Even though every football player dreams of playing for the big D1 teams, I dream of playing in any college. I wouldn't mind playing anywhere and the interactions I’m having with coaches shows that if you know how to handle certain situations, with help from my recruiting coach at NCSA, shows from how many colleges are contacting me and accepting the player I am. I'm very proud of how many interactions I've had in the past with many D1, 2, and 3 coaches, and I owe it all to the help of NCSA recruiting coaches.
NCSA: How are your team(s) doing so far? (Club teams, high school teams)? Any challenges this season? How are you excelling personally, how does that compare to previous years?
Whitton: Well, my team is in a rebuilding stage. My coach from last year stepped down to a new job at Mount Union College, so, since then, my team has acquired all new coaches and all new ways of doing things. It's really good though, because our coaches, I think, are top notch and are bound to lead the team to good standings. It's starting to all show in the weightroom. The change of coaches is bringing in many more guys in the weightroom and the production since then has stepped up a few levels. We've had a few bad seasons in the past here and the new coaches are showing us what we need to do to become playoff bound. The coaches are focused on making the players much better and they're doing their job. Our season, upcoming, will be much better but much more difficult than last year.
There are many challenges facing my football team this year. One of the big challenges is bringing in the players to come out and play. We haven't had many guys come out for football in the past years, and our record has showed it. Another one of the big challenges is also learning the new coach's way of doing things. I'm sure by the time we start practicing out on the field, we'll get the ideas. All in all, my team just needs to toughen up and face big teams head on. Each team is a challenge this year. We, as players and myself, need to build intensity and the want to beat the living you-know-what out of a team. We just need to go out and show the people that criticize my team for who we used to be that we have a new team this year. We need to show that we have great talent and that we can win in key situations. That right there, is the ultimate challenge in itself.
NCSA: What are your goals - athletically, academically and in your community - for the rest of the school year? Are you looking to improve your speed, skills, acing a course?
Whitton: My goals athletically would be to accustom myself to the linebacker position and excel in my knowledge of my position as well as the ability to play at a higher level. I would also like to become stronger, faster, and bigger. I wouldn't mind achieving all of those goals, and I know it's going to take a bit of time too. Also, by the end of the football season, I would like to have a college sure of recruiting me for their 2008 class. Along with those goals, I would love to win more than half of our teams games on our schedule. It would also make me happy if my football team tried to grow as a team and not individually. Those are my athletic goals that I would love to be completed for my last season as a senior on the football team.
Academically, my main goal would be to excel my level of challenge in school. As a goal, I'm going to acquire more challenging classes that test my knowledge completely. I have a goal to do great in school my senior year to show that I'm ready for challenges at the college level and how smart I can really be. My academic goals might not seem like much, but it's going to be hard. A load of determination and character that I had attained on the football field taught me to never give up and to push it to the limit. That is my way of completing my academic goals.
For my community, in the past three years, I have helped coach youth football and basketball programs. During the years of 2004-2005, I helped coach the Patriots in the Mishawaka Football League in Mishawaka, IN. I also helped coach the Redskins in the MFL during the 2005-2006 year. Much recently, during the year length of 2006-2007, I helped to coach the youth basketball program at the Varsity Teen Center in Barberton, OH. I have become a great help in the sports community of my home cities. I helped many kids realize the importance of sports, grades, and taught many kids how to play football and basketball. I plan, as a goal, to help again, at the Varsity Teen Center in Barberton, as a coach for a youth basketball team there. It's also my goal to help kids understand the sport(s) and to teach them to have fun in the process. This experience that I'm achieving while coaching youth programs in the community, is hopefully leading me to my goal of coaching a high school or college football team later on in my life. In all, I've been a great asset to my youth community.
