Get to know Anacortes recent graduate, football player Jake Schuh
ANACORTES, Wash. — Jake Schuh is off to Pacific Lutheran University this fall, the first Anacortes football player to continue into college in a while. A running back who finds peace in the “violence” of football, he feels that he has paved his own path starting with the typical kid’s organized sports and on through the rebuild in Anacortes football. Earlier he had basketball, baseball, and football as his top three sports, but entering high school he narrowed his focus down to football as a running back and as a center fielder in baseball. For Jake, “football ended up winning me over after seeing the transformation that the time spent in the weight room had on my physical and mental self.”
Jake’s favorite story about his sports career came during his last high school football game. “We secured a win against a tough and bigger opponent to finish our season 9-1. I met with my dad on the field after, and he asked me why I was crying. Unlike others, I was crying for more than just sadness. I was also shedding happy tears because I was so thankful that I would be able to continue playing football.”
Playing football taught Jake about leadership. “Anacortes experienced a rebuild in our football program that has now flourished into one of, if not the top programs in the valley. I fully applied myself to being the leader that would spark this rebuild and inspire the youth of Anacortes to play football. I now see how using this same application of full attention and energy applies to school, work, and relationships.” Jake also discovered that full participation is essential to being a leader.
“My sophomore and junior year I served as a leader who mostly led by example. This strategy of leadership can only get you so far. My senior year of football I was forced to take a more vocal leadership role. I learned how to effectively get points and ideas across to my peers without senseless shouting. The best type of leader is the kind that not only makes himself better, but also makes everyone around him better.”
Jake is looking forward to the new camaraderie and intensity level that his new team–the PLU Lancelutes–will bring to football. It’s another step on the path of a life goal followed since childhood: to continue playing football at any level as long as he can. However, Jake is also declaring a major in physics at PLU and hopes to make an impact on our evolving renewable energy systems.
Go Lutes!
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