Hello everyone! Week 2 already? Let’s catch up!
This week, I want to give a little background as to why I have chosen to name this column, “In the Arena with Allie Skaggs”.
One of my dad’s favorite quotes is from Theodore Roosevelt, and it is as follows:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
One of the most important lessons I have learned as a collegiate student-athlete is that no one on the outside knows exactly what our experience consists of. No one besides the 20 on the roster understands what the grind, the struggle, the joy, and the process truly looks like. So, my job over the next few months is to give all of you a little more insight as to what we do every day as Arizona Softball players.
It is easy to criticize and speculate when you are on the outside. It is easy to assume that what we do is routine and simple to us now, and that we are unbreakable as student-athletes. But, that is far from the truth.
Every day we show up, it is a grind. Mental, physical, emotional. But, we are the ones who get to do it. We are the ones in the arena. So, my only request is that the next time you think to criticize those in the arena, you take a step back and acknowledge that they are the ones in there. They are the ones who err, who come short again and again, and who strive valiantly. They deserve credit for being in the arena.
Until next week! Looking forward to continuing this journey with all of you.
LINK: MORE IN THE ARENA WITH ALLIE SKAGGS
Recommended for you
