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Shackelford trying
to turn family tragedy
into something positive
By Anna Snyder
Tribune Sports Writer
After tragically losing his father
in January 2020, Woodstock
senior Benji Shackelford
has been forced to mature
faster than most people his
age.
“It’s kind of weird, but I always
try to look the positive
way,” Shackelford said. “You
know, like now it’s an opportunity.
I’ve matured, and it’s
been good adversity.”
He said he tried to take his
traumatic situation, and turn
it into a positive as best as he
could.
Shackelford is one of
seven kids. He has three
brothers—Dillon, Joshua
and Timothy—and three
sisters — Hope, Grace and
Mia. Benji is number five
out of the seven siblings.
Two of his older brothers,
Dillon and Joshua, graduated
from Woodstock in 2019 and
2018, and both played football
and lacrosse alongside Benji. His
younger brother, Timothy, is a
sophomore at Woodstock and
is listed on the football roster
this year.
With older siblings to lean
on, Benji said he wanted to step
up and be there for his younger
brother and sister, and he
wanted to set a good example
for them.
“You can sit there and feel
sorry for yourself, but that’s
not going to do anything,”
Shackelford said. “Sitting and
complaining is only going to
make it worse for everyone
around you.
“It’s one of those things
where you can either sit down
and make excuses about something,
or you can use it as
motivation and keep going.
(You should) definitely never
give up or quit.”
Since the tragedy, Shackelford
said he has used sports as
an outlet. He is a three-sport
athlete at Woodstock, playing
football in the fall, wrestling in
the winter, and playing lacrosse
in the spring.
Now entering his senior year
at Woodstock, Shackelford is
looking forward to making
good memories. He is excited
to spend his senior year playing
sports and spending time
with his friends after learning
how precious life is at such a
young age.
“I’m looking forward to my
last season with my friends,
and enjoying the last season
of football,” Shackelford
said. “I’m looking forward
to seeing how the new start,
new coach and new staff will
play out.”
Shackelford, a 5-foot-10,
180-pound running back and
linebacker for the Wolverines,
finished last season with 18 total
tackles. He is a part of the
senior leadership that firstyear
coach Troy Hoff said he
is looking forward to having
on his team this year.
Hoff said it did not take him
long to realize that Shackelford
is a special kid.
“The attitude and work
ethic he brings every day,
(the way) he goes about his
business, he’s a pro,” Hoff
said. “He’s a very mature
kid for his age, he does an
excellent job in the classroom,
he’s highly respected
throughout the building.
So I think when you look at
that, it’s a big picture of a
student-athlete.”
Of the three sports he plays,
Shackelford said he considers
himself to be the best at
lacrosse. He said he hopes to
play collegiately.
So far, he has an offer from
Belmont Abbey College, in Belmont,
North Carolina, but he
said he would love to play for
the United States Air Force
Academy.
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