As kids, our parents signed us up for sports. We were innocent children just having fun while learning to kick, throw, shoot and pass a ball. Others learned to do their first cartwheel, swim their first lap, or perform their first recital. Little did our parents know that sports would become our whole life and first love.

We spent our early years playing for our town's local team, but soon began to noticeably excel and out work the other kids. When the competition was no longer challenging enough, mom & dad took us to travel or academy team tryouts. We quickly found out we were no longer the super star, which was ok. We wanted to be surrounded by better players that would push us to be our best. We were now competing at a higher level which demanded more of us. We spent the weekdays going to school and practice. On the weekends, we could be found traveling to games and tournaments. During the process, we experienced different coaching styles and made new friendships. There were as many let downs and failures as there were wins and celebrations.

Before we knew it, we were no longer the little boy or girl that was just beginning our athletic journey. We were now in our teens and our whole life revolved around our sport of choice. It was physically demanding, leaving us sore and achy after practices and games. Outside of practice, we trained on our own since we were always told that what we do when nobody's watching is what matters most. Free time was not something that we expected during the season, and the “off” season didn’t provide much more. We missed out on many social events so we could continue to excel on the field or court.

We fell in love with our sport. We committed ourselves to becoming better, because we loved the feeling of success. We complained from time to time, but the truth was we loved the constant grind to push our limits and fight through the tough practices and games.

We are now in our late teens/early 20’s and faced with the harsh reality these are the last few years of our competitive athletic careers. We are still striving to be the best athlete possible and constantly putting in the work to do so. Considering only 1 percent of athletes fulfill their dream of competing professionally, people may wonder why we continue to play when there's more to life than sports. What they do not realize is that our sport is our life. It is our love. It has shaped us into who we are today. We are going to enjoy the ride for as long as possible!