Trayven Newberry has been playing left guard for the Ardmore Tigers for the last three years, but he said that’s not where his love for football began.
“I started playing in the seventh grade, but I didn’t really like at first,” Newberry said. “I didn’t really get to play a lot because I was too little. But when I got to high school, I hit a big growth spurt, and I finally got my chance to play in varsity games my sophomore year.
It was the greatest experience I had ever felt,” Newberry continued. “Hearing the crowd cheering and the feeling you get when you set a block for your teammates and get them in the end zone; there’s nothing like that. And at the end of the game when you gave it your all and you know you helped your team win, it’s just an amazing feeling altogether.”
As a senior, Newberry said the game has taken on a new meaning for him, in that he wants to leave a legacy of being both a good player and a good leader at Ardmore.
“I was kind of nervous at first to have people look to me as a leader,” he said. “But then I realized when the seniors graduated, we’re leaving this team in their hands. I want to do my best to show them what a leader is, whether that’s encouraging them to push harder at practice or in the weight room. That way, when they’re called as leaders, they won’t be afraid to step up and take charge when they need to.”
Newberry said he has plans to get a powerlifting scholarship at either ECU or Friends University, and he wants to go to school to be an engineer or a veterinarian. In his free time, he said he enjoys hanging out with his friends and family, whether that’s playing basketball in the park or driving around town.
