Brooklyn Engels

Parker Careaga running to the endzone

In Meridian, a small town in Idaho, there was a boy named Parker Careaga who found the love for football at an early age. Careaga started his football career when he was only 4 years old. The first team he played for was the Colts Flag football team. He has made special bonds with people from this team that he is still close friends with now. The person who encouraged Careaga to start football the most was his uncle. Careaga and his uncle have an incredibly relationship with each other and as he grew up, he grew an amazing relationship with his uncle because of football. They were able to bond over something that they both love. They would often spend hours talking about football, analyzing games, and practicing together. Careaga’s uncle not only encouraged him to pursue his passion but also served as a mentor and role model. He is on the Freshman team here at Rocky Mountain High School. The position that he plays is wide receiver. The wide receiver job is to catch the ball that the quarterback passes, highlighting his speed, agility, and catching abilities. Careaga chose the number 1 for his jersey number because he decided he wanted to try something new this year. He usually picks the number 7 for his jersey number but not this year. Careaga plays on a team outside of school called Seven-on-Seven. He says that he has made many great relationships with his teammates that are on his team, and that he has gotten really close to most of the team. And he is still getting to know people and is excited to learn more about them and build new connections. This team has been really benefiting for him just because it has made him improve and be pushed past his ability making him even better than before. One big thing that he looks forward to and perseveres him to do better is winning both in high school and on his Seven-on-Seven team. He says that one of his favorite things is winning because winning as a team brings people closer together and gives them something to bond over and gives them adrenaline for the next game to be just as good. But through the ups and downs, the victories and defeats, Careaga is committed to giving his all and contributing to the success of his team. The adversity or struggles that he deals with during football is losing because that is a hard downfall on the team that brings them down. Another thing that is also generally hard for him and his teammates is practice because it ‘is long and challenging. Careaga explains what he does to prepare for his game, “I make sure I get good sleep and drink a lot of water and then before the game I pray and then I go play.” He has a well thought plan to do for his games to be able to succeed and play well throughout the game. His intentions for after high school is to move on to college hopefully. This is something that he would want to achieve in the future and would want to work hard to make it happen. He does not know exactly where he would want to go just yet, but it is something that he would want to look forward to in the future. Another thing that he does weekly is that every Sunday he goes to play football with his friends, which is something that he looks forward to doing every week and improves him while he’s still able to hang out and have fun.  Careaga is constantly trying to be better every day, which is something that his coaches love about him. Life as a football player is hard. They have to manage multiple task while still going to school and have time for other social activities. A lot of people can agree that he is an outstanding football player who drives hard and pushes through to be his best in everything he does.