This week, we chose to interview Darragh Nolan, a varsity football player in grade 10, because of his hard work and dedication to the team, but also his moments leading up to making the team, and why football is so important to him. Darragh is from Milan, Italy and this is his first year on varsity football.  His positions are left back and left wing. He first found interest in football when his dad brought him to a Sunday league tournament. Darragh says, “As soon as he brought me in I saw a football game that was going on. The kids were probably around eight, and I thought that they were so cool.” He goes on to say that all he was thinking about at that moment was “I want to be like them.” Darragh has been playing football since he was four years old, where he started playing as the goalie, and then eventually moved on to his current positions.

We asked Darragh how his team has inspired him this year. He said, “They go out onto the pitch everyday no matter if it’s raining, or if it’s 35 degrees, and they just train, train, train, train, train.” He goes on to say,“I don’t know if I can keep up with them all the time, and if I can then I’m happy with myself, and if I can’t it drives me to keep up with them.” Darragh has learned a lot from his teammates this season not only about how to be a better football player, but to also work harder as a person. One of Darragh’s favorite memories from football is when he and his dad watched a Juventus vs Real Madrid game together. Juventus, Darragh’s team, was down 3 to nothing, and in overtime they conceded a penalty. Juventus ultimatley lost the game but Darragh said, “For the last few minutes of the game I felt on top of the world, like anything could happen.” It’s his favorite memory because it was his first time feeling alive while watching football.

Finally, we asked Darragh what was a challenge he had to overcome and how he overcame it. He said that,“Moving from Milan to Bangkok,” was the hardest challenge he had to overcome. He goes on to say that, “In Milan the seasons are spring, autumn, and winter, and the weather does not get super hot.” This is a lot different because, “in Thailand 32 degrees is lucky” and the heat is a lot worse. This makes it harder for him to play football since he is not entirely used to the heat and “feels like his legs are being chopped off,” after leaving the pitch. How Darragh overcame this challenge was by “continuing to work hard in practice and push himself everyday,” even though it might be hard and difficult for him.