I spent countless hours practicing and thinking about what I could’ve done better in terms of my game, but when I look back on it all, I remember the exciting bus rides after wins, laughing at pasta parties and cracking inside jokes with teammates in the halls. There were wins and there were losses, but if you are only focused on winning, then you are already losing. Soccer and baseball provided me with so many benefits and life lessons that translated straight from the field to the classroom or out in the real world. High school sports are truly what you make of them.
The friends you make quickly turn into family. Spending time every day for two months together pretty much forces you to become one. What I appreciated the most about how close we got was that I wasn’t afraid to be embarrassed, and it allowed me to come out of my comfort zone. This soon expanded outside of baseball or soccer, and I found myself feeling less tense in situations where I would have been embarrassed beforehand.
Communication is key, as everyone says. Whether it’s sports or relationships, communication goes a long way. In most situations, people resort to the older or more experienced person to speak and help others, but in sports, if you aren’t speaking and calling things out, you are hurting your team. Making varsity soccer my freshman year made me learn this quickly; having to call for the ball or yell to switch fields made me realize I had a voice. I used this voice to speak up in classrooms, and I stood out more to teachers because I participated.
Another part of team sports I find important is that you experience the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. These moments show who people truly are and in what areas you can improve your actions and attitude, which is something I don’t believe you can experience just in school. In baseball, it is easy to get down on yourself because it is a game where not succeeding the majority of the time is expected. Learning to stay strong and positive even when you are struggling is an extremely important quality to have in life.
Lastly, time management and being on time are driven home through team sports. When everyone is out late on a Friday night, knowing they can sleep in Saturday morning, being on the baseball team means an early 10 o’clock practice. Learning not to make decisions that could affect my performance at practice, which could lead to playing time or not, is key. Sports have made me think about what is actually important in the moment, and in the future, and what to put first.
