As my 17-year career of playing hockey was starting to draw to a close, I began to think of what I could possibly fill all the time spent practicing and training for my sport in other ways. This post is personal in nature, but I think it resonates with what a lot of college athletes feel at the end of a career. Most college athletes dedicate their time to developing in one or even two sports (for you three sport athletes out there, all I have to say is: WOW), honing and perfecting skills that are sport specific.
When the sport is over, the competitive drive to be the best athlete doesn’t go away. I’ve started to dedicate my time to learning and trying other sports that I didn’t have time to practice before. Some of these are sports I used to play occasionally before the busy college lifestyle, while others are new. These activities are great for all ages or abilities and are activities you can start whenever! In the process, I have felt the burn in muscles I never even knew I had (Hello, Yoga!) and gotten surprisingly competitive in racquetball, a great fast-paced sport.
Here is my list of sports I have started to try or plan on trying in the recent future (which you should try too!):
1. Golf. If my Grandma can do it, then you bet I can try too!
2. Racquetball. Like tennis, it requires good hand-eye coordination and quick feet, but unlike tennis, you can hit the ball as hard as you want, which is quite therapeutic.
3. Yoga. My stiff hockey legs are going to thank me someday when I can touch my toes.
4. Running. I think I hate running more than anything, but all those 5ks and Tough Mudder things look so fun!
5. Rock Climbing. I’ve got to conquer my fear of heights some way or another.
6. Tennis. The fun thing about tennis is you can play doubles or singles, which are entirely different types of games!
This is just my list of sports that I think could be fun and exciting to try. It’s definitely an adjustment switching up the games you play, but in the end it makes you a better athlete and you get to have new experiences too!