(Story by Sophie Macon and Maggie Welsh)
It’s Friday night and the fluorescent lights shine down on the soft green field. The home team lines up at the 50 yard line preparing to size up the opponent. Sophomore and varsity football cornerback DiMaggio Wilson tunes out the screaming Rowdies section and focuses in on the first play of the game. He is ready to carry the team to victory.
Many students had a hard time deciding what to do after years of being in school, but Wilson was a man with a plan.
“If my talents get me somewhere, I would love to play in college,” Wilson said of carrying his football and lacrosse talents farther than high school. “If not, hopefully one day I will become a coach.”
It seemed that from a young age, Wilson was destined to be a star. As a very energetic child, his parents signed him up to play flag football, a popular sport at the time. It took a while for Wilson to find out about lacrosse, a sport that reached the Carolinas only a few years ago, but when he did he fell in love.
“At the time I was playing flag football, I was also playing YMCA Basketball and one day as I was leaving the YMCA, there was a lacrosse game on television,” Wilson said. “I asked my coach if he knew anything about lacrosse and he referred me to his friend, Mike Burnett who played lacrosse in college.”
Wilson started his career playing for Winston-Salem Lacrosse and moved on to play for the Winston-Salem Seminoles. He claimed that he did not get really good at the sport until eighth grade.
Wilson spent many years perfecting both his football and lacrosse game, but also his character.
“I used to get into trouble a lot, but knowing I had to set an example really got me out of trouble and made me a better person,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s leadership and strong character is also noticed by his teammates.
“He is very vocal on the lacrosse field and he is good at giving instructions in a way that obligates people to obey,” freshman and varsity lacrosse player Anson Walldorf said.
“Since he is a sophomore on the team he has taken up responsibility and become a leader to the younger players and he is a good listener to the older boys,” senior and varsity lacrosse player Ben Wattleworth said.
Wilson was an irreplaceable member on both the lacrosse and football teams and he had confidence that his leadership would take him far as an athlete and as a person.
“I think my best quality in sports is my leadership and that carries over into the big building on the hill,” Wilson said.