[wzslider]

Two-sport star athlete a music man at heart

Senior Brandon Wooley isn’t hard to find on the McCallum campus.

You can find him on the practice fields, patrolling the secondary defending against enemy wide receivers or streaking down the track in another practice run in the 100-meter dash. But you can just as easily see him belting out a song during the annual choir cabaret or tinkling the ivories during the annual piano recitals.

Does Wooley see himself as an athlete who plays music or a musician who plays sports?

The senior didn’t hestitate in answering: he is a musician first and an athlete second.

Music came first in his life. And it helps him to pursue his passion of proclaiming his faith and his calling to spread the gospel.

But while music is closest to his heart, his experience on the football field and the track have provided cherished memories and lifetime lessons during his high school experience. Joining the football team taught him to be humble in the classroom, he said, and also to put in the work in the classroom so that he could play.

Wooley said the football team’s 2016 historic season taught him many valuable lessons. The tough one-point loss in the area playoffs offered one of the toughest lessons but ultimately not a discouraging one.

“I loved playing with my brothers this year on the field,” Wooley said, “and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this family.”

Wooley’s football journey was a long one. He said that he disliked the game throughout elementary and middle school but was inspired to play football by the men in his family.

“My grandfather, brother, and dad all played football and they each taught me how to be tough and have fun while doing it.”

After the football season ended in November, Wooley turned his attention to the track, which he said was his preferred sport.

“It’s an individual sport, and when I’m on the track I am completely free.”

Wooley was hopeful before the winter break that his final high school track season would be his best and that he might shave time off his personal best of 10.3 seconds in the 100.

The secret of Wooley’s success on the track, he said, is the same as it everywhere else: putting in the work.

“You practice as you’re gonna play,” Wooley said, “so if you practice hard you’re gonna play hard. Spending hours in practice [playing the] piano, singing whatever the thing might be, is the same type of effort I put in running track, playing football or any other sport.”

As for life after high school, Wooley said, “I just want to be successful in whatever I do and do whatever God has [in mind] for my life.”

Wooley hopes to attend Morehouse College or Wiley College He added that Morehouse is where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to College and that Wiley the college with the debate team that inspired the movie, The Great Debaters.