For many of us our four years of high school consisted of making new friends, learning to drive, getting the perfect outfit for the formal, going to pep rallies, and being excited for the big game every Friday night. And, so many spend their high school career consumed in the sport that they’ve grown to love since they were a little boy or girl and getting ready for that big game. Whether you were a standout three sport varsity athlete, or you had that one season that you looked forward to all year just so you could be back with your team, we all made memories and shared experiences that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. And while some of those experiences on the court, or the field were moments of pure fun and competition, others were moments of personal growth and learning that have shaped the individuals we’ve gone on to become.

Every team goes through their ups and downs. A week’s worth of great practices, good team communication, and hard work, that later translates into a win on Friday night, can be quickly turn into team drama, a bad workout, and plenty of wind sprints the following week. These are the moments where we learn to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. We learn to lean on those around us and find it within ourselves to keep pushing when things get tough. Or when you find yourself staring at list of names and after a second look over you come to realize that our time spent playing the sport that we hold dear to our heart, has come to an end. So you all of a sudden find yourself on a new path, one that you hadn’t planned for or weren’t ready to endure yet you find yourself experiencing new situations, with new faces, from a whole new perspective. This is when we learned that things do change, but often times for the better. You also start to begin to learn that some people are just sore losers and winners, no matter how well the game went, whether it be a fellow teammate or the opposing team, they always seem to see the negative aspects of the game and attempt to push this on you. However, we begin to learn that there’s more valuable things in life than focusing on the past and dwelling on the mistakes but instead to look forward to future success and improvement. And then at the end of every season you lose your beloved seniors. Whether they were like your big brother or sister who always knew what to say and taught you all the ins and outs of the game, or they were that teammate who took their seniority a little too far, a little too much, you come to the realization that your team won’t be quite the same anymore. Some you’ll never lose touch with, while others you’ll never see again, but you being to learn that ‘losing’ people happens, but that you’ll find a new way to make things work. Lastly, whether you were the voice of reason, encouraging, all-star captain, or just a proud member of the team, at some point or another you were forced to be the leader on or off the court. Without a second thought you took action and knew exactly what to say or do for that discouraged, pissed off, or upset teammate. You were forced to push a little more, care a little more, lead a little more, and you did, you made an impact. You learned that no matter the circumstances, no matter your confidence level, you can lead and you can make a difference.

While a few select individuals have the opportunity to continue their career on into the collegiate level many of us never lace up our sneakers or cleats again. So whether you played for the competition, for the love of the game, for the team, or whatever you’re reasoning, you realize that without high school sports you’d be a different person. You realize that high school sports gave you an opportunity to grow as a person with some of the most incredible people surrounding you, during an exciting time of your life, and at the end left lifelong impressions on you. So thank you to the family, friends, teammates and coaches that all made some of these experiences happen for us.