As a passionate athlete, you have a love for something that many look at as just a game, but for you, it became a part of life. Throughout all of the fun of growing up participating in sports, there is one thought that hardly creeps into a young athlete's mind: that eventually all of the practices, tournaments, and games will be over. You never truly realize that it will end during all the years of playing and nothing can prepare you for the life that follows at the end of your sport.

There are so many things that you will miss.

There will be no more walking out on that field or court while being surrounded by your best friends and teammates. Hearing the songs that were on that pregame warm-up playlist will never be the same. There is something so special about building relationships with people on a team, having one united goal, and making lasting memories along the journey.

You will miss the sound of the cheering crowd echoing off the walls in the gym or through the sky on the field. Your coaches, team parents, and fans that supported you and cheered your team on will forever be appreciated. All of these people will be held dear to your heart because they made your sports experience better than it would have been without them.

And of course the games, playing the sport you love, not thinking about anything else in the world. All the wins and the losses and the trials you and your team experienced created memories for a lifetime. The passionate drive you have to win, will be a hard transition after playing sports are over.

The good, the bad, and the ugly memories you experience while playing sports will be over sooner, or later: and yes you will miss it all. The last walk off the court or field you have will be engraved into your memory, as will the walk you make at graduation.

For those graduated or graduating athletes, a chapter of your life is officially over, and there is no going back. The next year of your life will be strange, and at times you will feel an emptiness inside you. The amazing memories sports gave you all those years will creep into your mind in random moments. All the hard work and practice you put into your sport may be over, but that's the sacrifice you were willing to make for all the years of glory to reminisce. The word glory might sound like overkill, but that is exactly what it was. The years of passionately playing your game was magnificent and the memories you made were great and something to take massive pride in. You might go through regret and question why give it so much just to feel this sorrow of it being over. But the passion and perseverance you poured into your sport you will pour into life, as well. Older people frequently call their sports days the "glory days," and sooner or later when it eventually sets in that it is over, you will know why. Once you were a little kid trying the sport out, it became your life, and then it ends. But the love you have for the game will last forever.