Jy'Mere Rucker-Cash '24 Recruiting Profile

I believe positive role models are the most important thing a kid can have in life. They provide an older guide to younger generations providing them with resources that can help them in life. It's so many kids in life who lack a positive role model which leads them to a dark path. Being the oldest out of 9, not only was I bounced from house to house from a young age, but I also went through physical and emotional abuse. I was close to going down a dark path until I met my coach. He helped me improve my mental health and has been a guide helping me make the right decisions. If it wasn't for him who knows where I would be? I wanna be that positive role model to my younger siblings and to kids who have gone through the same things I have. I want to show them that it's possible to succeed, and give them the motivation and hope my coach gave to me.

When I was younger I never really had a stable household. My mom and dad had already split before I was born. Both of them never really stayed out of trouble so when I was with one nine times out of ten the other was locked up. At the age of 6, I ended up moving in with my dad who was married at the time after my mom was locked up and didn't have a chance of getting out for another 3-4 years. Around these 3 to 4 years my dad divorced his wife started drinking more and became highly abusive. I would get beat for the simplest things and go to school with a bruised face and marks on my body. Even though the school called child protective services on him multiple times. It wasn't until I was 10 that I was taken from my dad, and put into my mom’s custody.

Now living with my mom wasn't so easy, it was like salt disguised as sugar. While I was with my mom she ended up having 4 more kids now I was the second oldest of 9. I wasn't able to get what everyone else got, I had to buy my clothes, shoes, and sometimes food. I found myself angry at the whole world wondering why my life was the way it was. Things progressively started to get worse, and before I knew it my mom kicked me out of the house and sent me to live with my grandpa. I stayed with him for a couple of months until my grandpa suggested that I move back in with my mom. He also suggested that I start playing sports which would keep me out of trouble and out of the house. I ended up moving back in with my mom, once 10th grade came around and I decided to join the football team.

            Joining football was just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, I'm grateful for it but what started my path to success is wrestling. One of the best decisions I've ever made was joining wrestling after football season. Once I joined the wrestling team not only did my grades improve but also my mental health too. I felt welcomed and had people to look up to. I went from being a kid lost not knowing what I wanted to do in life to having a goal. That goal was to give to my younger siblings, and kids like me what my coach gave to me, hope. I wanna be able to show kids who struggled like me growing up that it's possible to succeed. Wrestling has taught me things that I will never forget. Discipline, determination, responsibility, and respect. If I were to get injured and never be able to wrestle again, I know I’ll still be able to take what wrestling taught me and achieve great things.