I played sports since the day I stepped onto the softball field at five years old. I was what you would call a "Tom Boy." I loved getting dirty. I poured my heart and soul into my sports from the day I started.

I recently felt inclined to share how all of my sports careers were destroyed the second I walked through the doors of my high school. I was so excited to be playing at the next level! I was excited to continue to play basketball with our strong group of girls, excited to see what roster I would end up on in softball. Little did I know, I wouldn't find a single coach who liked me.

My freshman year basketball coach was always very short with me and I didn't get as much playing time as I expected. I made the JV team, but what was the point of playing left bench? I hustled in practice, never gave up on anything. Why wasn't I getting playing time? Because I had an "attitude problem." NEWS TO ME!

Fast forward to sophomore year softball season. I made the Varsity team. Great! Or maybe not... I got all of the playing time I wanted to get, turns out that's not what makes you love the game. You see, at my high school, if you weren't a favorite, you were garbage. You'll play, but you're just an extra body that needs to be on the field. You won't build a bond with the coach, you'll feel left out on the team. I was apart of a State Championship team that year. This is the one that hurt the most. Softball was MY game since I was five years old, and it was ripped away from me in high school. I had dreams of going on to play in college, but I was told, "You'll never be better than D3." I decided after my Junior year that I was fed up with it, and I turned in my softball bag after 12 years of playing.

Moving on to junior year. I was back at it again on the basketball court. I always told my mom I hated basketball. Maybe I was doing it for her and not wanting to let her down because she played, or maybe deep down I really did love basketball. I was on the Varsity team and wasn't sure how much playing time I would get. I always had, still do have, a negative attitude, and I knew there were so many other girls on the team that were better than me. It was during this season that made me feel so worthless. There were two times in which my coach said to me, "There you are, I couldn't find you." Well that's interesting, I've been sitting here on the bench the whole game, coach. All you had to do was scan down the bench and I guarantee you would've found me. I am still mad that I never asked her about that comment. I don't quite understand how you could lose someone on the bench.

At last, senior year! The year I thought was going to be the best yet. WRONG! We had a new basketball coach, yet I still was not liked. There seems to be a trend going here. All four years of high school and not a single coach that liked me. I was shooting around before practice one day after a game and my coach comes up to me and goes, "I thought you like defense better than offense, apparently not." I'm still not sure what he meant by this, but I took it as, you let someone score, you're not good at defense OR offense. I was a starter for every game, I worked my ass off to be a starter and I made sure that spot wouldn't be taken away from me. I had one of the best seasons that year. I was excited to see what kind of recognition I got in the newspaper that year. I was hoping for first team all conference or second team all conference. HA! I barely squeaked out an honorable mention. It was then that I realized all the hard work and all the time and money my parents and I had put into me being an athlete was basically a waste.

I cried millions of tears. I made memories that I will cherish forever. I will never forget how these coaches ruined my athletic career forever. Because you see, at my high school, it no longer mattered whether you had talent, what mattered was your last name and what others told your coaches.