HOOS LIFE: Bryce Hall: Keeping the Faith

by Eleanor McGee
 
Bryce Hall, a third-year cornerback from Harrisburg, Pa., attributes his motivation and desire to be great to his Christian faith. It has acted as a grounding influence throughout his college playing career and is something that propels him through life’s challenges both on and off the football field.
 
After his sophomore high school football season, Hall decided to focus solely on basketball, even though he had multiple college offers for football.
 
“I had hoop dreams,” Hall said. “I thought I wanted to play basketball at the next level and so I quit playing football.”
 
However, as the next football season approached Hall was not as confident in his decision.
 
“I remember going to a scrimmage a couple weeks before our first game and looking back on how much fun I had being out there with my team,” Hall said. “I realized how much I missed it.”
 
Luckily, his coach was willing to let him back on the team and Hall began to earn back the college offers he had lost.
 
“I had to go to camps and fight for schools to offer me spots,” Hall said.
 
This determination has been a constant throughout Hall’s football career. However, as he transitioned from high school to college the source of his commitment and drive shifted. As he entered college, Hall’s Christian faith became his principle motivation for greatness.
 
Being a Division I college athlete comes with its own unique challenges. One of which is finding something that propels you through the daily grind. UVA head coach Bronco Mendenhall calls this “finding your why”.
 
“We do so much hard stuff, you have to figure out why you are out here,” Hall said. “I had to figure out what was my purpose for being here, why am I working so hard each day.”
 
He found his concrete answer after his second year of college, specifically on May 6, 2018, the day he was baptized.
 
“I started to see a huge change and started to be really active and open about my faith,” Hall said. “In high school, I really was not much of a religious person. I was not big on my faith. That was something that happened [here].”
 
Now his faith is something that governs his daily habits both in football and in life.
 
“My faith is everything to me,” Hall said. “It has elevated my game to a whole other level because I feel like I am playing for something bigger than myself. I feel like football is just the platform that God has given me to reach tons of people.”
 
Hall has found complete support from his coaches.
 
“They are supportive of who I am and how I go about my faith and spirituality,” Hall said. “I am so grateful to them because they push me so hard. Without them pushing me constantly, without their structuring of the program, without all of that, I probably would not be as strong as I am today and would not have gotten to that point where I had to truly find out my purpose, my why.”
 
In addition, Hall looks to team chaplain George Morris, as a central pillar of support.
 
“George Morris has been the biggest mentor to me inside the football program just with how wise he is, how much wisdom he shares on a daily basis and how he goes about bringing passion and energy,” Hall said.
 
Morris is also the man who stood by Hall’s side this past summer as they baptized four other Virginia football players including Nick Grant, Malcolm Cook, Tim Harris and Germane Crowell.
 
Their baptisms occurred at a local church with a large support group of players and coaches. Hall acted as both a leader and a friend to Grant, Cook, Harris and Crowell as they committed themselves to their faith.
 
Hall’s kindness and supportiveness is echoed in his activities outside of football. With his limited time off the field and out of the classroom, Hall loves helping children in the Charlottesville community.
 
“I am really passionate about helping around the community,” Hall said. “I love volunteering on the weekends. On Sundays, I go and teach a group of kids at my church. I am trying to be great. I try and fill my schedule with things that will help me be that.”
 
As for Hall’s life post-football, he wishes to continue helping others. His major, youth and social innovation, has served as a fundamental building block of this goal.
 
“I could see myself being an educator of some sort, trying to impact the lives of youths.” Hall said.
 
No matter what he decides in the future, his “why” will seemingly always be his Christian faith.