The lessons I’ve learned from playing football at the University of Waterloo are ones I couldn’t have learned anywhere else. I’ve been taught lessons about facing and overcoming adversity, finding success despite doubt or criticism from others, as well as growing mentally and physically throughout my time at Waterloo. Balancing school with football and a social life has been challenging at times however I wouldn’t trade the late nights, early mornings, and countless hours of hard work for anything. I am Mac Mooney, and I play linebacker and defensive back at the University of Waterloo.

    To begin, my recruiting process to come to Waterloo in the first place was highly irregular. Before I came to Waterloo, I completed my first year of Brock University and didn’t play football. It was around Christmas when I was contacted by Waterloo about the opportunity to play for them. I had played football my entire life but to be quite honest, I had never seriously considered playing university football. Despite this I knew immediately going to Waterloo, and playing university sports was an opportunity that is not provided to everyone. I knew I had to do it and I transferred from Brock to Waterloo to begin my second year.

    When I came into training camp at Waterloo prior to my first year it took me a while to adjust to the significantly faster speed of the game following a year off at Brock. I did not dress the first 5 games of my career. Those 5 weeks were extremely difficult, and taught me if I wanted to find success I would need to become more disciplined, as well as improve my strength and mental understanding of the game. From my perspective, the most difficult part of doing this would be with limited reps in practice, and gaining recognition as an anonymous first year player. Finally, in Week 6 of my first season my hard work paid off, and I was able to dress and play in my first game against McMaster. Since then I have not missed a dress besides missing 2 weeks last season with a dislocated shoulder before returning to play through it.

    While my story is unorthodox, and is not the typical story of a highly recruited player, it is absolutely part of the reason as to why playing football at the University of Waterloo is so great. Due to the efforts of Coach Bertoia, Coach Adams, and our rebuilt, rejuvenated staff we have been able to recruit high impact players like Tre and Tyrell Ford, Gordon Lam, Tyler Ternowski, Kurtis Gray, and Devon Hinsperger among so many others in recent years. Despite bringing in high end talents like this, our coaching staff, and our players have bought into, and believe 150% in hard work. The players who work the hardest, buy in the most, and are willing to do whatever it takes to be successful are the ones who thrive here, and are going to thrive here going forward. Coming to Waterloo and being a part of rebuilding this program has taught me to embrace those values in order to be successful in everything I do. The lessons I learned in first year about working hard in silence, and dedicating yourself to something greater so all can achieve success is a part of how I lived my life now. During my first two years we did not win a game.  Despite this, everyone remained bought in, and committed to the hunt for respect and success. Last season was only the beginning of the results of our hard work materializing.

    Since the beginning of his time here Coach Bertoia has preached three basic things every day. Number one is respect. Our team is all about respect. Making sure we respect each other internally, and making sure people respect us externally. Nextly, Coach Bertoia has always told us to ‘Win The Day.’ This statement to our team has always represented being dedicated and committed to seeking excellence in everything we do every day. Whether it is on the field, in the weight room, in the classroom, or in the ways we interact with others. Lastly, since Day 1 he has always told us ‘Those Who Stay Will Be Champions.’ The 2017 season for Warrior football was a microcosm of our team and individual efforts within the program to achieve respect, to win every day, and to become a champion. Last season we went undefeated to start the year and saw ourselves sitting at 4-0 to start the season. We began with the best record for Warrior football since 1997, we were nationally ranked for the first time since 2007, and were one of the great stories to start the year in Canadian University sports. Despite this start to the year, and recording the third most points in the league we finished the year 4-4 and dropped 2 extremely close games against Guelph and Ottawa that narrowly put us out of the playoffs. These failures, despite our initial success have only served as ammunition to improve individually  and collectively.

    Despite all the lessons I had learned up to that point those four games taught myself and my teammates we still had more to learn. We needed to learn how to close games, and we also learned that going forward we must control our own destiny if we're going to be as successful as we want to be. Going 4-4, with the best record in 20 years was a fantastic start on our efforts to rebuild Waterloo football’s reputation however it is nowhere close to the goal we are set out for. Following our last loss which came down to the final seconds when everyone was sitting reflecting on the season we all came to the same conclusion. There is more work to be done before we truly achieve our goal of being the best that we can be.

 
    These lessons of fighting for respect, overcoming adversity, working hard in silence, and being humble are lessons that will carry forward for my whole life. They are lessons I wouldn’t have learned anywhere else but as a Warrior. The chase that my teammates and I are engaged in to be the best that we can be on and off the field has also formed a brotherhood I would never trade. There is a culture change in effect at Waterloo. Myself, my team, and Warrior athletics are bought in for success, respect, and results. The humble chase for those things both on the field, and off will be something applicable to my life long after I’m done here. One thing is for sure, Warrior football has taught me that no matter what challenges I face, I will be back and I will always be better than the day before, because hard work breeds success. 

Mac Mooney - Novemeber 2017 #GoBlackGoGold