Throughout the offseason, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton's varsity football team has learned many valuable lessons on the football field, but some of those lessons extend to life beyond the gridiron.
A few years ago, Hunter McKay, a sophomore Thunderbird with a disability struck up a friendship with Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton three-year starter and captain Mason Maring.
“When I first met him in eighth grade, I didn't really talk to him, but then we talked from time to time, Maring said. “Then, last school year he told me he wanted to play football and we started talking about that and playing on our PlayStations together, and ever since then we have been inseparable."
McKay joined the team all because Maring, McKay's "right-hand man" (as Gibbs describes him) was on the team, and was the only kid in the school that would talk to him.
"I wanted to play football because Mason played and he was my only friend," McKay told WNY Athletics.
After talking football and playing games together for a while, Maring, a Westfield junior, took it upon himself to reach out to his coach.
"When Mason reached out to ask if Hunter could join the team, I immediately said 'Absolutely, bring him out and we will get him involved,' but I didn't realize the kid would completely change everything," said Gibbs, who is entering his fourth season at the helm of the Thunderbirds.
According to Gibbs when his team, which was already close-knit, saw McKay on the field for the first time they immediately learned something new about the game they love.
"It is hard to put into words, but he really shows that football truly has a spot for everybody, and you don't need to fit into a mold to be a football player," Gibbs said.
Gibbs and his staff have always rewarded effort with playing time. But for Maring, McKay has redefined what "effort" means.
"Effort is not actually working so hard that you are getting as close to perfect as you can, but instead it is just giving your best attempt on and off the field every single day," Maring said.
Gibbs asks himself the same question every day when he steps on the football field.
"Whenever you look over at Hunter during practice he is smiling and going a hundred miles an hour, and you can't help but ask yourself 'If he's out here grinding, why can't I?', Gibbs said.
"Here is a kid who is dealing with 100 different things most of us will never have a full grasp
of, but he keeps busting his butt every single day."
Ever since his best friend's arrival on the gridiron, Maring has seen a new level of effort and intensity.
"Ever since (McKay) has joined the team, everybody seems to be working even harder, and Hunter is right there in the huddle getting after us if we start slacking. So the intensity never slows down," Maring says. "If we keep working like this, we will get pretty deep into the season."