“Kay, look alive!” my dad frantically calls me. The rustling white flowers under my legs implores me to continue making dandelion crowns, but I reluctantly get up and chase after the ball at my T-Ball game. The year is 2012, and I’m slowly getting the hang of this newfound sport. Throughout my childhood, I was fortunate enough that my parents exposed me to every activity imaginable: basketball, volleyball, tennis, softball, soccer, and so much more. I attempted to be the best at every possible extracurricular activity and excelled at many, but it wasn't until I turned 14 that I discovered my favorite sport of all time: lacrosse. During the winter leading up to the end of my eighth grade year, I came to the conclusion that I needed a change. Softball had become too monotonous, and …show more content…
When I first held and passed with my lacrosse stick, it felt clunky and awkward in my hands; I felt like it didn’t truly belong to me. As the practice progressed, I learned more valuable skills and components of the game, such as catching with a soft hand, following through on my shot, and maintaining correct hand positioning. By the end of practice, I felt competent in my skill set in lacrosse, as if I’d been playing my entire life. Despite being aware of my hard work and athleticism, I grappled with why I was able to pick up lacrosse, a sport I've never tried, so quickly. The answer came to me as I reflected back on my sports-filled childhood: I had been unknowingly cross-training myself for lacrosse my entire life. From my hot summer nights playing softball, which taught me the correct catching stance, to my club basketball-filled evenings, which versed me in similar plays that we would be running, to my Saturday morning soccer games, which undoubtedly exposed me to the brutality of paced running on a soccer
Every time I play lacrosse I feel like I am a part of something greater than myself. Being a part of something greater than myself, being changed in my life forever has made me think and feel whenever I play lacrosse. When I was younger playing lacrosse was a learning experience. Playing with more skilled or less skilled girls in lacrosse and playing different positions except for one every game, practice and scrimmage all the time makes me get a different perspective. Playing lacrosse for quick sticks has changed my life forever.
As more of my teammates began to show up, I recognized most of them. However, I learned later that if I went on to play in the Spring, this would not be the same exact team I would play with. With only twenty minutes until we began,I put on all of my gear and my dad gave me a thorough warm up. Time seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, everyone was gathered together as positions were being assigned. I was originally overwhelmed with excitement, but as the game drew closer, the joy I had felt was replaced with anxiety. The lacrosse game taking place before ours ended and we entered and took our place on our bench. I recognized the opposing team’s jerseys quickly and identified them as a travel team from our area. Taking one final breath, I rushed into the lacrosse net enjoying my bird’s eye view, unsure of what was to
As most children did, I had the choice to play whatever sport I wanted. Considering my height, 5’10, most would assume that I played either basketball or volleyball. No one expected me to play tennis, and was surprised when I said that I did. During my elementary years, I played softball for seven years, and when I hit eighth grade, I decided to play tennis. My decision came about because of my sister. I had always followed closely in her footsteps because I looked up to her a lot, so when I saw she was playing; I wanted to try it out too. I had never really thought about what it would be like to play tennis. I didn’t hate it, or really know what it would be like to play it. And little did I know that playing would demand so much time, energy, and effort.
Inspired by his dad, who played baseball in high school and college, he started playing tee-ball. He played tee-ball until two things happened, one he thought it was extremely boring and two, his team did awful. This is the beginning of Jack Henderson’s journey with his true passion lacrosse, and how the word excelsior has always been an inspiration to him throughout it.
I have been playing softball since the age of six. From the time I could walk, my dad had me out in our yard teaching me how to swing a bat and throw a ball. Growing up, softball is all I have known. Both of my parents played softball and baseball growing up and in college. They both have taught me everything they know about the sport. Softball has taught me more than the physical aspect of the game. In softball a player can strike out seven out of ten times and still be considered a good hitter. Everyone has rough days, but I have realized that I just need to come back the next day and work harder. My parents have showed me that working hard at it will help me succeed. Whenever I have a bad game, instead of getting down, I take it as motivation to try harder the next time.
It was on a regular school day when then seventh grader, Macy Misfeldt stumbled on a lacrosse flier posted in one of the hallways at Superior Middle School. This flier incited an interest in Misfeldt and then prompted her to ask her mother’s permission to join the team. After being pronounced as too young to do so Misfeldt anxiously anticipated her next year.
All of a sudden, he was running for his life. At least, that’s what it had felt like to him. After all, lacrosse was his life. He was playing for his future tonight. The second the ball went into play, he felt the familiar and almost comforting rush of adrenaline seeping into his veins. He chased after the ball like it was the only thing in the world that mattered, and right then, it was. Scouts from three different National Lacrosse League teams were here tonight in this stadium, all watching this game. His game. Tonight was his best and maybe only chance to prove that he was worth something, that he was more than just a nobody with anger issues and an attitude problem.
Fresno, California Easterby Elementary School , recess time, and the day of “The Kickball War”. The time was a quarter till noon, teacher still teaching, as every student begins to pace their feet up and down from sitting in their seats with such excitement. As I stared straight at the clock waiting too see the long hand line up within the short hand to strike 12:00pm, Tj tap my shoulder pointing out the window nodding his head while leaning toward the basket with all the sports and recess equipment. I knew for a fact what that meant, so I occasionally gave him a huge smile and nodded my head back at him, while slowly moving my lips to say the words “Kick ball”. Seeing how the time was near to head out, shortly, and without any hesitation Tj tied his shoes to prepare to dash right out the door! I felt my heart racing with such
Sports play a very important role in my life ever since I could walk. My interests in playing sports began at the age of three as my parents signed me up for soccer, flag football, basketball, and lacrosse. First grade started my competitive edge as I began to play for travel teams in various sport tournaments. This competitive edge transferred from the sports field to the classroom having teachers and coaches helping me be the best I can be. Sports have continually well-shaped and defined my character by teaching me how to accept a win from working hard, also how a loss is an opportunity to learn and fix mistakes.
I have been playing high school basketball as a Lady Hornet since my freshman year, and I firmly believe that I have given tremendous effort into being the most valuable player that I can be. Ever since I was a child, I have had an immense passion for the game of basketball. My mother played collegiate basketball at William Carey University, so all throughout my childhood, she was my main inspiration to play. I will be forever indebted to her for pushing me to play the fantastic sport of basketball because I have no idea who I would be without it. While playing this sport for almost thirteen years, I have learned many valuable lessons along the way that have influenced the way I live out my life.
After high school and two years of junior hockey, I began attending and playing hockey at St. Norbert College which gave me the opportunity to accomplish my goal. I continue to pursue my passion for hockey, but I have also begun the transition into the next stage of my life. Drawing on the life skills I had learned during my time away from home, along with the teamwork skills that I had developed throughout a lifetime of hockey, I felt well-prepared for this stage of my life at college. These skills enable me to balance a full course load each semester, while playing a sport from O...
Basketball is a big part of my life, one year ago in tournament final game two of our best players were hurt and the team was relying on me. With the time winding down on the clock we were down 8 points. Somehow I got our deficit down to two points with 30 seconds left, after an intense defensive stop 10 seconds remained on the clock; our coach called a timeout. A play was drawn up for me to take the shot. Mitchell inbounded the ball to me as I came off of a screen, I had an some-what wide open shot, I took the shot, you could hear the crowd go silent as the ball left my hand and headed towards the basketball. It felt like everything was going slow motion, the ball was getting closer and closer to the hoop and I…….missed it. The buzzer sounded
‘Tweet’ I heard a whistle go. It was time for my first lacrosse practice. I had never played in my life, and I was very nervous, but excited at the same time. My team all ran up to the coach in full pads, still getting used to the huge weight of the helmet. “Pass to each other for 10 minutes”, the coach yelled. I had never even passed. There were about ten high school coaches there to help us. One of my coaches dashed over to me and passed. I missed every single pass, but right away I saw a ball fly right into the pocket of my stick. I was extremely happy that I actually made a single pass. I passed another time and it was good! I was starting to get the hang of it but we were called off to practice shooting. I knew I’d miss most or all shots,
The scariest thing that I have ever experienced was dislocating my knee during my high school basketball game. While attending Forestview High in 2013 the second game of the season, I acquired my knee injury against Highland Tech. I was very excited about the game because I worked very hard to take a senior spot and was finally getting the opportunity that I was waiting for. Everyday during practice, I gave my all, all the blood, sweat, and tears that I experienced I just knew it was my time. Tuesday, November 22 we get to Highland, warm up, and finally it's time for tip-off. The first quarter I get off to a rough start getting all the jitters out. Second quarter arrives, then I began to get the feel of the game. As I penetrated down the lane after hitting a mean crossover, I came to a jump stop
Can a sport that is intended to be fun lead to growth or even hold us back? Actually yes, for me it is softball. Softball is a sport of pure failure, so it can hold us back unless you use the failure as motivation to lead you to growth and that is what I did. I used failure as motivation and it led me to growth. It was the very beginning, the start of the season, and I was working hard to get the starting position at second base.