High school sports can be known as both a blessing and a curse to many people
involved. There are of course the obvious positives of representing your school, playing
a sport you enjoy, and meeting new people, etc. However, there are many places for
this great thing to turn not so great. For example, if you love a sport, and want to play it,
but you if can’t get along with the coaches or players, you will either deal with having an
awful and unenjoyable season or you might quit and miss out on your favorite sport.
Let’s say the people aren’t the problem though, maybe your having fun with the sport,
and the people around you, but somedays you just feel burnt out, sick, or you have
something important you must attend, and you miss practice. Many high school sports
teams, especially at the varsity level are very strict about these sorts of things, and this
may result in you not playing in the next game or having to run extra at your next
practice. This can lead to the feeling of needing to always show up no matter what,
which in some cases is a good thing, but other times you may really need to just take a
day, or you might end up playing through an injury and making it much worse for
yourself.
However, even with these negatives there are plenty of positives too. Being able
to play a sport you enjoy and are good at in front of people at your school and doing
well is a great feeling. Making a great play in front of packed stands and hearing all the
cheering can be a great feeling. Meeting with your friends after school everyday to
hangout while you do something you love is fun too. In many cases high school sports
can be a great environment to have fun, play your favorite sports and be with friends,
but there are a few case scenarios in which you might wish you had never signed up. I
sometimes feel that the lows you have to experience makes the highs even better,
which is why I love to play, but some may disagree.
~Grant Smith