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The impact high school sports have on kids
The impact high school sports have on kids
The impact high school sports have on kids
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Joining the High School Cross Country team was a huge risk for me because I am quite shy and didn’t have friends on the team. I was the fastest girl on the team, but very slow in comparison to other schools. I was disappointed, and although I gave it a good effort, I knew that I could try much harder. I didn’t quit that year or the next because I knew that people expected me to keep running and I hate giving up, but there were many times when I wanted to quit. However, I decided that if I was going to keep running, I might as well give it more than just a good effort, I would give it my best effort and see if I could shave five minutes off of my 5k time. I started to work much harder and learned to persevere when it was hard and I wanted to
I have always loved sports and the competitiveness that comes along with them. In so doing, I have decided to eventually become either a high school or college coach at some point in my life. Subsequently, I decided to interview the Vilonia High School Cross Country Coach, Coach Sisson. As I walked into her office, I instantly noticed all of the trophies and team photos from all of the past years of coaching. She is also the school nurse so her office has first aid equipment intermingled into the trophies and team pictures. While I set up my notes and questions for the interview on one of the desks in her office, she was finishing up a diagnosis of one of the high school students who felt sick. After her patient left, I quickly started the interview in order to waste no time. She began with how she got involved in coaching. The Vilonia School District expressed their interest to her as being the next cross country coach several years ago. She was widely known for her passion for running and she gratefully accepted the position and has been a coach for numerous years now.
I am now officially in my Senior year of Cross Country , and am close to the end of my season. My first race of this year though was a big accomplishment for me, because I hadn`t been able to run. When I ran that race though it made me just so happy I was able to finish it, I was`nt happy with the time, but there is always time for improvement. I was glad to be racing again and being apart of the team again. I believe that my injuries were a barrier in my way, but they did not stop my sports career.
Sports are not for everyone. I tried a variety of sports throughout my childhood but I was never really athlete material. I am as slow as a turtle and I have little to no hand-eye coordination, but I gave each sport a try. It was truly a shock when I decided to run cross-country since I had no speed whatsoever.
My first week of school, everyone encouraged me to join a club or a team. Of course I did not want to, until I heard we had a track team, and even then I did not know if I wanted to pursue it. In my mind, debating if I should dedicate myself to track was a hard decision. I was about to not only give this sport my time but also nothing but
“If at first you don’t succeed try , try again.” At the age of six I was starting to play football. The game was a hard hitting running and commitment. I was six years old at the time now I’m fourteen a freshman in high school a lot has changed.
I joined my school’s cross country team in the summer. At the beginning we performed pre-season workouts. The training was tough, but my proud personality and the very thought of what I had to gain kept me motivated and helped me push through the pain. Every time I felt like giving up or quitting, I would say to myself, “This pain is only temporary; remember that the reward will be permanent, and it will be worth the pain that I endure today.” I was able to push through the
About a month ago, I went to a bonfire. It was to celebrate the end of cross country season for the Boy’s Bartlett Cross Country Team. At first I was worried that I wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. This, however, was not the case. I even made friends that night. I had already known that at the bonfire some the teammates’ siblings were invited. Surprisingly, that was what I was worried most about. I was worried because at the time I didn’t think that they liked me. I thought this because they never talked to me and would look at me weirdly. When I went there, I planned to just sit there and not talk to anyone.
It was November 5th, 2013 – it was my cross country league meet. I was running the hardest, the fastest, and with more intensity than I have ran with the first three years of my cross country career combined. It was the hardest course in Michigan, but it seemed easy to me as I practiced on it every other day. The competition was at least thirty seconds behind me as the three-story hill was too big of a challenge for them. The screams and cheering of the crowd fueled my adrenaline and I hit my runner’s high. I had tackled the hill for the final time and the crowd was screaming louder than I have ever heard, which caused me to power up the hill, then I stopped in my tracks. I realized what they were screaming about. There was someone, or something, hunched over my coach’s body. It looked human, but there was something off about the figure. The “thing” turned around and looked at me. It was pale, fit, had red eyes, and was covered in my coach’s blood and intestines. My heart stopped. What the hell? Then, I ran. It chased me. I didn’t have time to think about where I was going or what I had just seen, I just ran as fast as I could and as far as I could get. I heard screaming from the other runners and other onlookers, and when I glanced back to see if the thing was behind me, it wasn’t. I ended up in the parking lot, hotwired an older car (by popping
Athletics has made a difference in my life through its redefining of the word “success.” Before I got involved with track and cross country, success was measured by goals I set and achieved for myself that made me happy. Since then, I have realized that success is much more gratifying when it is dependent on making those around me proud. In track, success is when I have trained hard enough so that I am able to help my relay team win a race or break the school record. In cross country, success is when I have built up enough endurance to contribute to the team score and help my team move on to the state meet. This mentality has translated to my daily life, as I am constantly working hard to please those around me. At school, I always do my homework and get good grades so that my teachers do not have to focus extra energy on getting me to do my work. At work, I strive to go above and beyond my typical duties so that I can lessen the responsibilities of my co-workers. At home, I help out with chores without being asked so that my parents can have one less thing
Remembering the feeling of embarrassment whacked against the side of my face as I realized that how horrendous I was at swimming. I can reflect back to that moment and say it motivated me to become such an astonishing swimmer. It began when my best friend Anthony, who also recruited me into tennis, was helping the empty swim team recruit members. Anthony was the type of person who would share his thoughts about a particular event and recommended it. “You’d be in shape for the tennis team if you join the swim team, it would also be helpful if you joined since we’re lacking people,” he explained. Participating in the swim team was one of the most remarkable experiences during high school.
A difficult situation that challenged me and made me reconsider my values was deciding between quitting football or quitting cross country. I have been in my school’s cross country team and track and field team since freshman year. Rising through the ranks and making a name for myself as one of the school’s fastest runners and captain of both teams. Along the way, I had caught the attention of the head track and field coach, who also happened to be the football coach. He had asked me if I was interested in joining the football team.
That sunny, blue skied day started like any other. Waking up to go to school, pondering if I should stay in bed or get up, I chose to wake up. I went to school and nothing big happened, I had a project that was assigned to me but I did not want to start on it. Then, as the bell right for most kids to go home, I stay after to go do the one thing I love - Track and Field. I have ran Track and Field for four years before interring my junior year of high school, and this year I was told I was not going to be doing my main event because of a freshman who is running it; I was upset.
Growing up, I always tried to be one of the boys. I wanted to play any sport possible. I wasn’t scared to play tackle football in the backyard with the neighbor boys, I ran around right alongside them. My parents never really helped me pursue any sports, and being just a kid and not able to drive, I couldn’t sign myself up for anything. I began running cross country in seventh grade. It was really my first chance to get myself involved in something. I had never even heard of cross country before, until a book I read involved the main character being involved in the sport. When I began running, I never imagined that I’d still be running my senior year. Not only did I think I’d still be running, I never even considered the idea of running varsity. I believe that my six years of running has proven, at the very least, my commitment to things
My palms are sweaty, my excitement is at an all time high. For once in my life, I’m ready to leave a while before we can go, and I'm ready to fly down the hallway once I get out of the classroom.
As a Sophomore in high school I joined the Cross Country team for my school. I was very nervous at first because I felt intimidated by everyone there. When I made the team and practices started I focused on myself and how I could improve. After a while of doing the same routine I got bored and started to lose purpose other then being competitive with others. I felt a bit lonely after a while running by myself and being my own cheerleader. When competitions came I would focus on myself and no one else then I realized that in order to win you had to work as a team to make it to the finish line. I started giving tips to my teammates and talking to them and in return I got useful advise as well. I started noticing as I talked more to them I started to feel comfortable. I realized I found a new family of friends that were there for me as I was for them.