For many high school athletes, sports were a major part of their high school experience where we gained lifelong friends and memories. This was something you put so much physical and mental effort into. At times the work and the criticism challenged how bad you really loved it. But through those moments there was never any doubt because deep down you knew you wouldn’t have it any other way. Whichever sport you played, it changed you for the better and made you who you are.
Then college came along and many high school athletes decided to leave that chapter of their lives behind and move on to focus on their academics. We knew we would miss it but not this much. They tell you when you go to college you’ll miss your friends from home, home cooked meals, and the lack of work you took for granted in high school. Here are some reasons why we miss sports the most:
The competition
Whether it be the competition between your opponents or yourself, it made you the great athlete that you were. When your team makes a comeback from being down, you beat your personal record, or your team beats your school’s rival at homecoming, it gives you a feeling like no other. The feeling where you were so nervous you thought you were going to throw up, but the nervous feeling pushed you to be the best you could be.
Always being busy
At college you sometimes feel like something’s missing and it’s definitely all the free time from not always having a practice, game, or team dinner to go. All of those days coming home at 5 and still having hours of homework to do was miserable at the time but now looking back it’s hard not to miss those days. Yes, even the Saturday morning practices when the team was at the field before the sun was up. Being so busy was stressful but when you’re doing something you love it’s completely worth it.
The pride
There was no greater feeling than it being game day and putting on your uniform with your school name and number on it and walking onto the field/rink/court. You knew you were representing something so much bigger than yourself. You pushed yourself and you pushed your teammates because you wanted to show the other team what you guys are made of and you wanted to make your school proud of your team.
The teammates
You had your friends but then you had your teammates. In college you meet great people but there is still nothing like the bond you had with your teammates. You were with them for hours a day, six days a week. They had to be the ones you could go to for a laugh or advice. Whether it be at team dinners, long bus rides, or even at practice, they could make your day ten times better.
Even though those cherished days of playing high school sports are in the past, us high school athletes still had an experience like no other. There’s no doubt that we gained experience on things that will carry on far beyond our years of playing sports. We learned about dedication and never accepting failure. So now we have to move on but we can take that passion we had for sports and put it towards something else; something even bigger.