For some people, academics are their entire life and for others it is sports. Being a part of a sports team is a privilege and creates lifelong memories and friends.

1. Makes you feel better

Exercise always makes you feel better and healthier. Working out with other people makes it more fun, less dreadful, and easier. Being on a team, you eat together and encourage each other to stay healthy to perform your best. Staying in the best shape possible will benefit all of you.

2. Team becomes family

When you are with your team more than your own family, they become a part of your sports family. You end up doing everything together. Seeing each other at school, spending snow days together, practicing together, just hanging out whenever you are free (while in season, isn't very much). You grow a special bond with each teammate in a different way. You become so close and learn to trust each other. Yes, you will get in fights, but that's what happens within a family. At the end of the day, you always have each other to count on. To this day, we may have all gone our separate ways in college, but I know that if I needed anything or just wanted to talk, I could call up any of my teammates.

3. Team trips

Team trips are the best. Everyone looks forward to them. The late night adventures when you finish all of your games, the jacuzzi time to give your muscles a break, the restaurant visits (best with the school credit card), the bonding games, the movies, anytime to spend together. Trips usually brought my team closer. Every tournament meant a new challenge, but the same goal: to win. We all had the same motivation and eagerness to win.

4. Coach impact

Coaches are some of the most influential people in an athlete's life. They help mold you, not only as a player but as a person. Their advice is so valuable because they have been through what we go through, they understand what it takes to get to that next level. If they are hard on us, because they see our potential and they want us to not only reach it, but surpass it . They want to see us reach our goals and they give so much up to help us. I will never forget the words of wisdom from my coaches.

5. Learn discipline

Athletes understand discipline. It means the five am wake up calls, the three-hour practices, the endless drills, the time management, the self-control, and more. As athletes, but also students, it can be hard to do what is best for ourselves. There are many temptations, we could go out with friends the night before a game, we could drink, smoke, be reckless, or just not care. But we don't. We choose to do what is best, because if you are that one person who decides to do the crazy things, that may wreck the whole team. When you are a part of a team, that means that most things you do when it comes to the sport affect not only you, but everyone else.

6. Don’t feel guilty about how much you eat

Food: greatest thing ever after a long practice or game. I am pretty sure that during most practices, the food was mentioned. We never worried about how much we ate... it was guaranteed you would work it off in practice. As long as we had practice and games, excessive eating wasn't a worry.

7. Everyone goes through the same pains together

You are not alone in workouts. Your entire team is there going through the same thing as you. When the coach said "on the line" it was generally all of you and you're all thinking the same thing "Who messed up this time." No matter whose fault it was, you all endured the same punishment and made it through as a team. That is the most important part. Fighting through the pain together makes you all stronger.

8. Work Ethic

Being an athlete does not always guarantee that you will have a good work ethic, but it's very important. Work ethic is not something that a coach can teach. How hard you work and how much you push yourself is a personal choice. If you slack off, you're hurting yourself and the team. The harder you work, the more your teammates will want to keep up with you and do the same. Work ethic applies outside of sports as well. In life, if you want to achieve a goal, it requires hard work. Everything worth anything will take work, struggles, pain, and time. That is what makes it worth it.

Being on a sports team has made my life better, and it has taught me valuable lessons. Everyone deserves that chance too.