Even great sportsmen of today have to overcome a lot, take for example Jason Robinson, the former rugby league star and of course the man who made the switch from rugby league to rugby union. He went on to captain England and his club team Sale, dazzle the England fans with his quick feet and score some memorable tries for club and country.

Despite achieving so much in his career, Jason Robinson is a recovering alcoholic, at the end of his teenage years, he had enough of his life, and was only a matter of minutes away from committing suicide, he had been out with his friends on a night out, came home, only to go straight into the kitchen and pull out a knife. He says in his autobiography ‘finding my feet’ I had enough of my life, and there was no point in continuing, it was only because one of his close family members stopped him that he is alive today. A tragic story, but fortunately Jason Robinson becoming a born-again Christian, gave him strength and courage and his career went from strength to strength and although he retired at the end of the 2007/2008 Guinness premiership season, we were blessed with watching a talented sportsman for many years.

I hope from reading this piece, you can see how easy it is to get somewhat side-tracked from what potentially could be an amazing career, a sports career is so short, but within sport, there are so many opportunities, coaching, sport journalism, management to name a few and all can potentially take you a long way in your life. Everything about sport is challenging especially at the highest levels and in my view worth fighting for, much like most good things in life! There is something out there for all of us and we all have special qualities’ we only need to do is discover what they are! There is a role for everyone, even if a playing career is not for you.

I am a sportsman, rugby has dominated my life since was 10 years old and now at almost 17 I am nearing the top of my game. I have trailed for England and Wales; I have captained my school for many years and play county rugby. I am now faced with partying every weekend or being ‘top of my game’ every weekend, not always an easy decision, but mine to make!

I wrote this for Termtime because sport has played a huge part in making me the person I am today. If I was to offer anyone any advice it would be……Always have a go, life is full of challenges and as we mature and become adults we will face new ones, but having a go is what makes it fun and you never know you could just turn out to be the next Beckham, Wilkinson, Tiger Woods or the next winner of X Factor! Good luck and enjoy exploring what talents you have... look hard enough and you will find what makes you a special individual.

Nick Williams, 17.