This is a letter to all the mothers out there who have spent endless amounts of hours driving to games and tournaments. This is that one big thank you that you've been deserving for years. Now that all of us young athletes have transformed into collegiate athletes, we realize just how lucky we were to have you as our mom. We are so thankful for the games you've sat through, the food you’ve prepared, the meetings you've attended and the seasons you have stuck through. We are also fully aware there are some seasons you wish you didn't have to watch at all.

We are beyond thankful for the hundreds of practices you’ve driven us to and the trips you’ve made to just to watch us play. We realize how expensive traveling sports are and the sacrifices you’ve made just to let us play. This letter is to thank you from the bottom of our hearts because, well frankly, we miss it. We often look back at the times when we were just starting to play sports, to when we got better and better and up until now. The best part of these reflections is that you were there for every single one of them. The amount of games you’ve missed in our entire lives can be counted on only two hands. That is impressive. We understand you would literally break your backs for us and we could never buy you enough gifts or say enough words to show you our appreciation.

Just know that we wouldn’t be playing the sport we love at this next level if it weren’t for you being there for us after every practice and every game. Without you in the stands every time we played, who knows where we would be. Thank you for the unconditional support, thank you for listening to us complain about our coaches and teammates, thank you for pushing us to be better and thank you for always being the person we can fall back on.

We also want to take this time to say sorry. Sorry for snapping at you after a bad game, or taking our exhaustion out on you. Sorry for all the times we didn’t appreciate what you were doing for us and not saying thank you right then and there. We are sorry for the times we let the things you did go unnoticed. Trust us when we say, we notice now.

Just because you may not get to see us play as much anymore doesn’t mean we aren’t thinking of you. We know you are watching on TV or online because for some amazing reason, you’ll never get tired of watching us play. Every time we want to look in the stands and give you that “what the heck” look, we are thinking of you and the years we spent doing that before. We think of you when we are traveling to games and remember the days when we would travel together and blast music beforehand. We think of you when we wake up for 6 a.m practices and don’t have our water and breakfast ready. We think of you all the time and it’s at these times we are most grateful. There are not enough thank you's in the world that could sum up the gratitude we feel for having you. Lastly, we want to thank you for showing us what we will do for our children because we know the sentimental value it holds to have your mom there for you 100 percent of the time, win or lose.

This is the letter you have been waiting for. From 3,000 miles away or 10 miles away, you will always be our number one fan.

Love,

Your Athlete