Imagine yourself walking around your high school or college campus without a piece of athletic clothing on. Imagine not having your teammates to talk to or other athletes to talk to. Imagining this is hard for anyone because most people had a team to be a part of. They were identified as being on that sports team.
It is easy to let yourself be defined as a particular athlete in high school. Yes, you have dedicated your life to this particular sport, but in reality only seven percent of high school athlete’s move onto college athletics. It’s a very strenuous process with a lot of hard work and dedication. Those seven percent of high school athletes that get to continue are the ones who you see now on college campuses, strutting their stuff in their gear walking to classes with their team or other athletes.
Now I understand that I am technically am one of these people since I compete as a Division 1 athlete. For years I would walk around everywhere and anywhere else thinking I am a soccer player and only a soccer player. The reality is, as fun as it is to be a soccer player, runner, Crossfitter, MMA fighter, baseball player, cereal eater, hacky sack champion, chronic video gamer… It shouldn’t be how you define yourself.
To those people who support you in your journey, you are much more than that. You are a student, daughter, brother, friend etc. and the sport you “play” comes last. Promote yourself as the soccer player, softball player, golfer and so on, but don’t let it define you.
One injury, one accident, and it could all be gone. When you are too old to play your sport, now what do you do? How do you define yourself?
What I am saying here is that you can’t put the blinders on and forget that you are so much more! Be outgoing, talkative, and fun. Go into classes and make new friends. Talk to other students other than just your team or even just the athletes. You never know when you are going to need help in a situation. For those of us who did make it to college athletics only one percent will turn pro. What is going to happen to the other six percent of us that have to hang up the cleats per say? What are you going to do when you graduate and the only people you know from college are your teammates and other athletes at your respective school. The guy or girl sitting next to you in class or sitting alone in the commons could be the next president of a company, a major role at a TV station, or even a congressman. Having put yourself out there, even though it may not be in your comfort zone, could help you later on in life when you are trying to define yourself as something more than an athlete.
No matter what school you go to or what sport you play, there is always time to be yourself. Not just the athlete or jock but the nice, outgoing, fun loving self you truly are outside of the stadium or locker room walls. Maybe, just maybe, you will surprise yourself when you step out of your comfort zone of defining yourself as just one of the athletes.
