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Avery Huggins is a senior at Westfield High School and has an exciting future ahead, attending Cornell University next fall to play Division I Football and studying in Cornell’s Turfgrass Program, which is one of the best in the nation.
“There are only a few schools in the nation that offer a turfgrass program, so they were all on my radar, and I was lucky enough to get an offer to play football at Cornell,” he said. “With it being one of the top schools in the nation for the academic program, and a chance to play football, I’d say fate had a hand in it. Ivy Leagues are so prestigious, so I think just getting the opportunity to learn and be around some of the brightest people from all walks of life is amazing.”
Huggins started playing football his freshman year of high school, and was awarded Most Improved Offensive Player his sophomore year. He says football to him means “fun, family, friends and competing.”
Huggins, an offensive lineman who plays right tackle, credits his former coach Nick Hardwick, who this season will be coaching for the Los Angeles Chargers, for having such a strong impact on his football journey.
“The best piece of advice was just him being able to encourage me and remind me to believe in myself,” Huggins says. “Something he said repeatedly was, ‘If you’re good enough, they will find you.’ What that meant to me is, focus on the here and now for things that I can control today, and don’t worry about the things you can’t control in the future.”
Huggins has been a part of Westfield High School’s Agriculture Science program since its inception three years ago. “The program helps expose students to, and prepare for, careers in the quickly growing field of life science and biotechnology,” he says. “My teacher, Mr. Kaufman, taught it in an interesting way that sparked my interest. I always knew I wanted to do something in the sports field even after I’m done playing sports, and this was a cool way to stay involved with that.”
Huggins aspires to one day either play in the NFL or be a field manager for the league. Looking ahead to his senior year of high school, he aspires to win state with his football team, and hopes to win homecoming king and prom king, and some competitions with FFA.
“Since I play offensive line, it’s more of a developmental position when you get to college,” Huggins says of his upcoming college journey. “Unless you’re a 6’6”, 320-pound freshman, you’re more than likely going to spend your first year or so on the bench so you can develop.”
You can cheer on Huggins and the rest of the Westfield Shamrocks on select Friday nights at Westfield High School. Their game schedule can be found at westfieldathletics.com.
