I'd like to start off by saying you will always have a special place in my heart. From team bonding to getting ready together, there are irreplaceable memories I will cherish forever, and I'll look back on these forever as the glory days. There is nothing that builds you up as a person more than being on a team, being a part of something special and the friends that come along with that.
I now wish I would have taken it all more seriously, and savored the time we had together more, because it's crazy how much you miss something when it's gone. Even when practices sucked—which was literally every time—I should have appreciated it because there was something really rewarding about practicing something every day until you knew it by heart. Those two hours after school every day are something I look back at with fondness, as it's when I got to know you and we grew as a team.
I still have all my old gear. My jackets and sweatshirts and T-shirts still hang in my closet,and I still wear them, because even as a graduate, I still root for my alma mater and I am proud to say that I was part of something. Every one of them is a memory, and I can still remember getting them for the first time, because there's something so special about being part of a team, and when we had these we looked and felt the part.
I smile when I hear news of my old team because like an heirloom passed down from generation to generation, it's something that we got to share with the classes after us. I'm sure they'll look back at it one day with the same fondness as we have and maybe the same sadness when they hang up their uniforms for the final time.
I'd like to thank you, as well. For never giving up on me and for helping me grow as an athlete and as a person. You pushed me to be better and cheered me on always. I couldn't have done it without you. I know there were bad days, but there is nothing that compares to a job well done and perfect performance—we had many of those.
We grew together, we laughed and cried together, and to me, we'll always be a team.
