Cody Cameron, a young cousin to me (Siege Cameron), has recently gotten negative attention from his parents after it's become apparent that his grades have been sacrificed for his football endeavors. Of course I want him to succeed in football and be able to follow my footsteps, but I'd have to calmly make him understand that this life isn't guaranteed, even if you make it. I'd tell Cody that he needs to put some of that headstrong personality into his grades and take the built up stress from school to use in football.
School will almost never be fun, but keeping up with your grades and translating academic skills to football (and vice versa) feels much more rewarding than just focusing on football and potentially failing classes, or even high school itself. I'd tell him that if he just puts his head down and focuses on school for the seven hours per day before practice, he'll develop a good habit of keeping his football life out of his other matters and it will be much healthier in the long term.
School will almost never be fun, but keeping up with your grades and translating academic skills to football (and vice versa) feels much more rewarding than just focusing on football and potentially failing classes, or even high school itself. I'd tell him that if he just puts his head down and focuses on school for the seven hours per day before practice, he'll develop a good habit of keeping his football life out of his other matters and it will be much healthier in the long term.