Veteran Presence - Jiggly Gumballs

[JigglyGumballs 1,056]

 

The VHL dream was not quite as defenseman Jiggly Gumballs expected during his rookie season. Despite respectable defensive stats and a somewhat solid offensive production during his rookie season, the young Canadian defender has suffered a fair amount of disappointment as the third ever draft pick of this new expansion franchise.  However, heading into his third season in the VHL, and 4th season since he was drafted, Gumballs has learned a lot from his time in LA.

 

As a young player making the big jump into the VHL, Gumballs knew that his team was going to struggle, though his own desire to win hoped for a time where he can help this expansion team make a postseason impact. Since then, LA has time and time again finished bottom of the standings. During that time, Gumballs learned that winning isn't everything. Maybe it was because of LA's disappointing seasons. Maybe it was because LA as an expansion team, was starting to lag behind it's counterparts in Warsaw, London, and Chicago. However, through disappointment after disappointment, Gumballs learned the positives of failure and how it helps him grow as a player.

 

"Heading into my 3rd season, my goals are simple. To improve what I already have. At this point, I honestly don't care about winning or losing games. I just want to play the way I want to play. Y'know being in a team that time and time again fails to make the postseason has it's benefits too. The thing with teams like LA is that every game is like climbing a steep cliff. It's a struggle. Yet you play through the constant adversity. During my time here, we've had to fight for every single goal, every single shot, basically everything. And it's through that adversity is where you learn the most. Rookies playing in a competitive team might honestly have it easy for them, but for people like me who came into this league in a rebuilding team, we had to fight and scrape for every little thing. And part of that growth as a player, for me at least, is to learn how to get past that struggle. Winning isn't everything. As long as you do all the little things right, and be able to get past whatever is putting you down, you'll make it far in this league. And I'm going to do just that. The growing pains of learning how to play the game is past me, and all that is left now is to make noise."

 

(419 words)