Dear Teammates,

Who knows how many of you will get this or get to read this, but I felt the need to write this little letter to you. It was all of you who helped me in my darkest times. It was you who were around me at my worst and at my best. It was you who knew that some days, there was nothing I needed more than it to be a game day. Whether you knew it or not, you were a huge part of my high school experience.

In my darkest hours I knew that the light at the end of the tunnel was always game days. Being able to spend every day for 3 months with the greatest group of guys a person could know, most days was what I needed. Being around you guys, whether we were teammates last year or 3 years ago, is the only thing I know to do after school in the spring. It was one of the very few things that were able to combat my depression, being around a game that has given so much to me and people that have helped me in so many ways they don’t even know. Thank you, for being one of the few things in life that stayed constant over the past 4 years. Thank you, for being there to pick me up when I was down, even if you had no clue you were doing it. Thank you, for being yourselves day in and day out.

The impact you have all had on my life is so far reaching and will last forever. There are dark days still where all I think about are those games where all I could do was smile. I have pictures, not even of myself, that I look at when I need a pick me up. You have imprinted moments into my head and those memories will last a lifetime. You all were my rock, each one of you. The rock I needed when all I felt like doing was floating away into a sea of depression and negativity and bad thoughts. There are days you saved my life and you didn’t even know it. The impact you have all left on me will last a lifetime, the memories made, friendships forged, and the countless stories I can tell people. I know for sure I will still be telling a story or four of our days together when I’m 80 and people ask me about what I miss most about being young.

Many of you have also had a tangible impact on me. You have actually been there for me, you knew I needed a rock; you helped when I needed it. You were friends when all you had to be was a teammate. You became a brother who would fight any fight next to me, knowing I would do the same for you. You are the teammate who became a friend I can count on. You offered me tickets to a game, a ride to Applebees for half off apps with the rest of the team, or even just something as simple as a ride home from a game.

Whether you know it or not, you became my family. You became people I can count on and would spend a day with in a heartbeat. You became the people I would go to war with if someone tried to start a fight with you. You became my rocks, my boulder to tie my rope to. You became mainstays in my life. You became brothers that I needed. You became people I would count on seeing day in and day out. You became my drug to battle depression. You became the most important people in my life. You also gave me a reason to keep fighting the fight, you gave me a reason to smile, a reason to laugh, a reason to feel like I mattered. You made me a part of your family, I became your brother. You gave my life meaning, you gave me hope for my future. You were honestly, part of the only thing I had come to know to do on spring afternoons.

For everything you did for me, whether you know you did it or not, I am forever grateful and forever indebted to you. I can never say thank you enough for it to be sufficient. You are family and family comes first. If you are ever in need of back up in a fight, you know where to find me. I will be there as quickly as I can. I love you all and I am honored to call you all my brothers and my friends.

With love from your favorite student manager,

Max Lutzker