Senior rugby player overcomes family tragedy
Blake Toppmeyer
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Sports
"Everything started weighing down on me," Josh said. "I had to take a break. I was going like Superman for as long as I could. So I had to take a break, step back and refocus. I just wanted to be with my family for a little while and decide whether or not I was going to come back and finish."
Needing just one more semester to graduate, Josh returned to Truman this spring. He is set to graduate this May with a degree in justice systems and a minor in political science. After graduation, Josh will do a two-year stint in the Teach for America program, teaching secondary math to students in New Orleans. After he completes the program, Josh said he would like to return to school and earn his Ph.D. in criminology so he can teach the subject the college level.
"[Returning to school] was just the drive to not let this define me, don't let this be the thing that derailed me from all my goals because I've always been pretty driven," he said. "Coming back, it was just a realization that I'd come so far so I got to keep going."
Josh also returned to the rugby pitch to cap off his four years with the Bulls. Still battling the ankle injury he suffered in the fall, Josh said he originally planned to sit out rugby this spring. But after several veteran players quit the team between the fall and spring halves of the season, Josh - a three-year cog of the Bulls' backline - realized the team needed another experienced player on the field.
"We had a very young team, and we were real thin in the back," Sexton said. "And I think that some of the experienced players, his teammates, went to him and said, 'How's that ankle? We really need you out here. We do need you back on the field.' To his credit, he came out, and we established a Saturday morning routine, which was for me to tape up his ankle, and he wore a lace-up brace. … I think he was glad to be back."
Josh finished his rugby career on a high note. On April 11, just more than a year after the tragic loss of his brother and with his family on the sidelines watching the game, Josh and the Bulls trounced the University of Missouri 37-10 at home in the final game of the season.
For Josh, the win marked the first time in his career that he was on the victorious side of a match against Mizzou - and it marked just one more challenge that Josh has overcome in his Truman career.
"I really think the world of him," Sexton said. "He's faced down this family adversity and this tragedy, and he's basically asked himself who he is and what he's going to be and how he's going to handle these things. He's handled himself well. I'm proud that he was affiliated with the club."
Needing just one more semester to graduate, Josh returned to Truman this spring. He is set to graduate this May with a degree in justice systems and a minor in political science. After graduation, Josh will do a two-year stint in the Teach for America program, teaching secondary math to students in New Orleans. After he completes the program, Josh said he would like to return to school and earn his Ph.D. in criminology so he can teach the subject the college level.
"[Returning to school] was just the drive to not let this define me, don't let this be the thing that derailed me from all my goals because I've always been pretty driven," he said. "Coming back, it was just a realization that I'd come so far so I got to keep going."
Josh also returned to the rugby pitch to cap off his four years with the Bulls. Still battling the ankle injury he suffered in the fall, Josh said he originally planned to sit out rugby this spring. But after several veteran players quit the team between the fall and spring halves of the season, Josh - a three-year cog of the Bulls' backline - realized the team needed another experienced player on the field.
"We had a very young team, and we were real thin in the back," Sexton said. "And I think that some of the experienced players, his teammates, went to him and said, 'How's that ankle? We really need you out here. We do need you back on the field.' To his credit, he came out, and we established a Saturday morning routine, which was for me to tape up his ankle, and he wore a lace-up brace. … I think he was glad to be back."
Josh finished his rugby career on a high note. On April 11, just more than a year after the tragic loss of his brother and with his family on the sidelines watching the game, Josh and the Bulls trounced the University of Missouri 37-10 at home in the final game of the season.
For Josh, the win marked the first time in his career that he was on the victorious side of a match against Mizzou - and it marked just one more challenge that Josh has overcome in his Truman career.
"I really think the world of him," Sexton said. "He's faced down this family adversity and this tragedy, and he's basically asked himself who he is and what he's going to be and how he's going to handle these things. He's handled himself well. I'm proud that he was affiliated with the club."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
AH
posted 4/28/09 @ 2:02 PM CST
Blake,
This is a wonderful and extremely well written story. I think you truly captured Josh's story, and I didn't want to stop reading..
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