If you could take a look at me right now, I could bet a million dollars that the first thought to cross your mind would not be that I am an athlete. I bet if someone asked you if I was a lacrosse player, it might go through your head, but then you’d be like eh, her arms look extremely weak, and I’m just not seeing it. But in fact, I am one, and it is a huge part of my life.

Today I am here to express my love for the sport of lacrosse. I will not only show you all the cheesy valuable lessons it's taught me, but also how it's affected me personally, how I use it to my advantage in life, and how it's made my relationship with my Dad stronger than ever.

The first thing I am going to thank lacrosse for is being there for me when I need to rub it in someone’s face that I am not as weak as I look.

I don’t know if any girls have gone through this kind of stupidity before, (I am assuming probably) but there have been many times in my life when people are like “pfft, what do you know about sports”, or something along those lines. Before lacrosse, I’d quickly try to defend myself with an “I know a ton about sports actually,” which was a complete lie. But now, I can prove those people wrong. When it is found that I am a lacrosse player, I am perceived differently than a weak girly girl, and for that I am thankful.

So yes, it gives me a little sense of pride right there. But now onto the more important stuff.

The second reason I am thankful for lacrosse is because it made my relationship with my dad stronger.

This isn’t to say I didn’t have a good relationship with my dad before I played because that isn’t true. He has always been my best friend and has always loved me just the same, but from lacrosse I have gotten to add so much more to that. I’ve got to experience the hours and days he spent with me outside teaching me and not letting me stop playing wall ball until I had 100 consecutive catches. I have all the times we watched games together on TV, I got the 8-hour car rides to lacrosse tournaments in Maryland, Pennsylvania, or Florida, you name it. I got to look up into the stands during my high school games and know how I was playing just by the look on his face. Mostly I got the feeling of knowing he was truly proud of me after I won the State Championship my senior year, and I got him as my number one supporter, who has yet to miss a game, even though now they are almost 4 hours away in Georgia. So thank you lacrosse for giving me that.

Not only did it bring me closer to my Dad, but it made me better as well.

The last thing lacrosse has brought me is, in fact, all those cheesy life lessons, so I will make it quick.

This sport has taught me how to win and how to lose. It's taught me to work hard for something you care about, even when it sucks. It’s taught me that the moments I spent on the field with my best friends are moments I will cherish forever. And lastly and most importantly, and what my dad would remind me before every game I played, “Great moments come from great opportunities.” Every time you go out to play, you have the opportunity to do something great, and I hope to continue making great moments out of life’s opportunities.

I hope that you can only take from what I have shared with you about my experience with lacrosse to take a minute and remind yourself of all the joy the sport you played probably brought you. Lacrosse has given me a chance to prove myself, have an awesome relationship with my dad and learn so many important things. But it isn’t just lacrosse. Any sport can give you what it has given me, or maybe even more. So many might complain, or despite the long hours spent practicing instead of doing something more fun, but I’ll be the first to remind you that the years you spent playing sports will be years you will remember 50 years from now. I wouldn't trade my time playing lacrosse for anything in the world.