When you were a child, your parents probably signed you up for a plethora of different activities to encourage you to get involved and to help you find your niche. There are so many different things you can try; girl scouts/boy scouts, instruments, sports, etc. Eventually, you find one or two activities that you feel most at home at, the one that you find yourself wanting to succeed in and do better more than any other. That's the one you find it hard to imagine yourself no longer doing. For me, that sport was softball and I played for nine awesome years. As all other good things, for one reason or another, it had to come to an end. There are a few things that happen once you stop playing a sport that you love, such as denial, regret and more.
Denial
The weeks before the first season starts that you will not be participating in, you briefly forget that you won't be playing. Then you are smacked in the face with reality. This time of the year, you are supposed to be getting in top shape again for the upcoming season and gathering your equipment. You'll think, "I need to go running to work on my endurance for soccer," and then you remember you won't be playing. You'll think, "I need to try my cleats on to see if they still fit properly," and then you remember you don't need cleats for anything anymore. It is a depressing truth that can be difficult to deal with.
Regret
For whatever reason it is that you stopped, you regret the decision or the fact that you had to stop. If you stopped because you wanted to focus on school, you think about the possibility of how you could maybe make time for the sport. If you stopped because you were too old, you look for loopholes so maybe you could play for one more season. If you quit because you were injured, you wonder if maybe your health isn't as important as continuing to play the sport you love. You just miss the game so much that you ponder if maybe it was a bad idea that you stopped playing.
Emptiness
There is a void that consumes once you stop playing. It almost feels like a piece of you is missing. It's almost like a breakup; you find yourself missing the little things and the stuff that drove you crazy when you played. You miss the field, the three-hour long sweaty practices, the pressure of an intense game, the smell, the cheering when you or your team does something good, the competition, everything. You just miss the game more than you thought you would and you never actually stop missing it. It has been about seven years since I stopped playing softball and I still continue to miss the game.
Live through others
Even though you no longer play, you still support the teams you used to play for. You may find yourself wandering to the field to see if there is a game and stay to watch it. You want the team to win just as much as when you were on it. You're living vicariously through the current players and are slightly jealous that they are still fortunate enough to continue playing. When you see a game on television, you watch it with a bit more appreciation. The sport had such a big impact on your life, and though you no longer play yourself, you still find ways to keep it in your life somehow.
Out of shape
This sport was probably the main source of physical activity and once you stop playing, you find yourself getting out of shape. You have to start going to the gym to avoid gaining weight and that is a lot less fun than playing a sport.
Overall, stopping a sport is similar to a breakup. There's denial, a feeling as if piece of you missing, and you may even gain some weight until you adjust to this new life without it. However, unlike the breakup, you will never hate the sport that left your life. How could you possibly hate it when it helped you grow as a person, introduced you to awesome teammates, and gain so much confidence and strength.
