As much as we want to believe that it'll never come, it will. The pre-game jitters, tying the shoelaces on your cleats, doing your hair in the perfect braid and tying your ribbon in a perfect bow then fixing all of your teammates', adding new dirt, grass, and mud stains on our uniform shirt to go with the other 35 that won't come out. Whether this game comes at the end of high school, college, or any time in between, nothing can prepare you for the utter heartbreak that comes with stepping between those white lines for the very last time, or with stepping off from in between those lines and knowing you'll never be back again. These are the game that always seem to go by the fastest and I just wish that I could relive every last game I've played and ask time to slow down.
The season flies by and before you know it, you're playing the very last game of your career. You may not realize that this game has come, but it'll definitely hit you when you're hugging your teammates and crying to your parents. You thank your coach for a wonderful season because even if it didn't seem that wonderful during the season (you know, always running and doing drills over and over again to get them right, getting yelled at by coaches when you do something wrong), you appreciate it a little more now that it's ending.
No matter how cliche and dramatic this sounds, but without the game, without the practices, without the fans, without the routine, without the teammates, in losing all that, an athlete loses themselves as well. There's no more of a stress reliever where you'd be able to take out all the pent up emotions from throughout the day than during an after school practice. When one part of us is invested in a sport, every part of us is invested in that sport. It takes over us physically, mentally, and emotionally and when that security net isn't there anymore, it takes a lot to adjust back into a life without it.
Take it in. Be proud of the sport you play. It may be taxing and difficult while you're playing but I'm giving you this advice from personal experience: appreciate it now. The saying goes that you'll appreciate it more when it's gone and that holds true here-you're going to miss it for every day that you're not standing in on that grass or on that dirt with the family you've grown up with. You'll miss the routine of it, you'll miss the teammates who turned into family, you'll miss the coaches who turned into idols, you'll miss the safe feeling you get when you walk on to the field, you'll miss the wins, you'll even miss the losses. Appreciate the last warm up you take. Appreciate the last cheer you yell to encourage a teammate. Appreciate the last game-changing play you (or someone else) makes. Appreciate it all because in the blink of an eye, it'll be over and you'll find yourself sitting around on a Saturday morning wishing it could be spent throwing a ball or scoring a goal, swinging a bat, or shooting a 3-pointer. Cry. Cry when the final buzzer sounds. Cry when the final out is made. Cry while you're shaking hands with the other team in your "good game" line. You've put so much time and energy into this lifestyle that you deserve to show how it's affected you. Thank your parents. Thank your siblings. Thank your coaches. Thank your teammates. Thank yourself for getting into a sport that has defined who you are as a person. It's been a journey and one that will be a part of you forever.
