Coming from a very sports-oriented family, I had known from a very young age that I would be a multi-sport athlete. It started when I was three years old when I took my first vacation to Naples, FL. My parents let me play in the water, and before they knew it, I was swimming. This led to them signing me up for the swim team at our local pool. One thing led to the next and I was in a pool every single day - summer, autumn, winter, spring.
I had a similar experience with softball. My parents signed me up for tee-ball in kindergarten, I was decently good at it, so then I found myself spending every summer weekend at a ballpark, well into my high school years.
I also dabbled in tennis, volleyball and golf, but they never consumed my life like swimming and softball did. I went through the motions every day for over 10 years. Sports were where I made my friends. I met my very best friend, to this day, through softball. I made memories I would not trade for anything. I was good. I had great teammates. I was in great shape. But then I encountered a career-ending injury, and it was all over.
Of course I was upset about it. I tried to play even after I had gotten hurt. But about a year later, I realized that quitting sports was the best thing that could have happened to me. I had been putting my identity in my worth as an athlete. Once I quit playing sports, I joined new clubs, branched outside my usual friend group, found academic subjects I was passionate about, greatly improved my style - tournament t-shirts paired with sweatpants is not a good look, contrary to what 15-year-old me thought - and started expressing myself in new ways.
Now, as a sophomore in college, I can’t imagine how different my life might be if I would have stayed with sports. Would I attend school at Ohio State University? Or would I have tried to play at a smaller school? Would special education be my major? Or would I have picked something sports related? Would I be in a sorority? Or would I have the same negative views about Greek life that some athletes have? My life could be exponentially different, and for that I am thankful that I injured my back.
Although in the long run I am happy with the way things played out, the lasting friendships I made with my teammates, coaches and their families are well worth all of it. I don’t think I would go back and change getting hurt. But I also wouldn’t change being so invested in athletics in that point of my life. Sports are a great way to build a foundation, but there are also so many other ways to do that. And my injury is the only way I know that.
