During my first year at college, I would spend a huge amount of my day wasting time. But honestly, who doesn't? We'll eat our lunch and we'll go to the gym, and we'll hang out with friends until we're too tired to move, and then we go back to our rooms and slave away at our assignments. Then comes my dismay, and I always think "WHY did I wait so long to do this?" And now, it has finally hit me. Sports. Sports don't control my life anymore, which means I have no structured days. This basically means I can never get anything done. Here's why high school sports were such an important part of daily life from ninth to twelfth grade.
1. You didn't have a choice but to be in shape.
Just got to practice? Take a lap. Practice is almost over? Take a lap. Because of the huge time commitment that all sports required, one could spend close to three hours a day, six days a week practicing and exercising with their teammates. Participating in a sport meant that you didn't have to go to the gym religiously, (or even at all). And that's a blessing in itself.
2. SO...MANY...FRIENDS.
These people have seen you at your best, after you've scored the winning goal, and the worst, when double sessions were over for the day and you smelled like an actual wild beast. Spending so much time with people and learning to cooperate with them and work together to achieve something? It's quite simply just one of the best bonds you could have with a person. You either started the sport as friends and worked towards becoming good teammates, or you started as strangers. You started as teammates and became genuine best friends. (Shoutout to my own best friends and lacrosse co-MVPs. You frickn' rock.)
3. You learned how to manage your time.
Playing a sport was a huge time commitment no doubt, so when you finally got home for the night you almost had no choice but to immediately start your assignments! The busy schedule of any student-athlete was stressful enough to leave almost no time for that required reading or physics lab. Prioritizing was definitely something we all learned.
4. You could eat, um, EVERYTHING.
Pasta parties to fuel your energy for game day, two gatorades after practice, the ice cream, the pizza--athletes could basically have no dietary restrictions because so much time is spent being active. And in college, well, you have the Freshman 15. This is a huge struggle for anyone who went from playing sports their whole lives to not doing anything, I mean anything sporty at all. Actual quote I've heard: "What do you mean I can't have two Baconators? Is this a joke, Mom?"
In general, the thing I realized about high school sports is that they basically molded me into the person I am today. Sports teach responsibility, dedication, teamwork, confidence, and so much more. So, to everyone who is experiencing the feeling of being a "washed up" high school athlete, just look back on those days, first, as the point when you were in the best shape of your life and second, remember the countless memories you made with your coaches, teammates, and friends. We might not be able to get those days back, but we sure can learn from them. And we sure can remember the work outs and replicate them at the gym, but God knows that's never gonna happen...
