Former Arlington Football Standout, Finds His Place at UCA

Former+Arlington+Football+Standout%2C+Finds+His+Place+at+UCA

Grace Green, Sports Journalist

“To say I was excited is an understatement. I’ve been dreaming my whole life to play football at the next level.”

Jake Golday, former Arlington football standout, and starting tight end, linebacker, wide receiver, and captain of the varsity football team. Jake Golday is now 19 years old and goes to the University of Central Arkansas on a D1 full football scholarship. Golday plays outside linebacker and plays on the special teams for UCA. Golday has lived in Arlington his whole live until the end of his high school years where he now goes to the University of Central Arkansas and lives in Conway Arkansas. Golday says he enjoys golfing, playing basketball, and spending time with his friends and family when he can. Golday started playing football 12 years ago when he found out he loved the sport. He says the thing that inspired him to play was “one day when I was 7 years old all my friends were playing and telling me how fun it was so that made me want to play and as soon as I started to play I fell in love with the game.” Jake Golday made his high school football years amazing, memorable, and truly showed how good he is at the sport he loves.

Football made a huge impact on Jake’s life. Jake received 14 division 1 full athletic scholarships by the end of his senior year. When Jake got his first offer he knew all his hard work and time put in had finally payed off, he knew he could play at the next level like he had always dreamed of. Jake talks about how he felt when he got his first offer and if it made him excited “to say I was excited would be a understatement, Iv been dreaming my whole life to pay football at the next level.” Golday misses playing in high school. He misses playing in front of his home town, playing with his/for his high school coaches, playing alongside with his best friends and growing up with them. Golday says “college football and high school football to be honest are a lot different. College football is like a job.” He says “the amount of meetings we have would be the biggest difference.” Jake spends hours putting in extra time trying to be the best he can whether  its going to the practices that aren’t required, having personal training, watching film on the side in the time he has, working out everyday, and overall continuing to try and get better everyday doing the best he can. During Jakes college football he spends anywhere from 4-8 hours out of his day in the football facility. Golday can run a 40 yard line dash in 4.5 seconds and has a vertical jump of 39 inches. Jake has a passion for the sport like no one else. He says he doesn’t still face challenges like he did but it did take him about a semester to get used to his new lifestyle, with trying to balance school, practices, and extra time to find to put in.

“For most people, I’d say making the kind of decision I made would be hard but for me I knew this was the school I wanted to play at.”

— Jake Golday

 

Jake loves the school he plays at and gets to represent and says if he could go back and change anything he wouldn’t because this is what he was born to do and where he was born to play. Jake Golday 2021 graduating class who most people if you asked who he was as a person they would tell you he was the most kind, respectful, hardworking, smart, role model, funny, brave, overachiever, and above all a person some of the underclass men would looked up to.