This world pretty much revolves around sports, whether it be pro, college or even high school. Starting at the age of 10, usually people find "their sport". The single most important activity to them, their one true love. This activity brings them life long friends and life lessons. It gives them something to look forward to after school, or it provides an escape if you're having family or relationship problems.
When I was in about first grade I began my quest to find my sport (OK, so maybe my parents did). First they signed my sister and I up for soccer. I hated it. I would put every excuse I had into getting out of going it was pretty crazy. I was bad at it and well, I didn't like that. So next we tried basketball. That ended when my dad was trying to help me shoot in the driveway, let's just say, he passed it and my face caught it. That was the end of that. From there we moved on to gymnastics. I loved gymnastics, I am double jointed so I am naturally very flexible with little to no effort put in. I excelled but then I hit a sudden stop, I reached a certain point where they just stopped teaching me things I didn't already know. I eventually got bored with it, which lead to my not wanting to go to classes, which lead to my parents not wanting to pay for it if I didn't enjoy going so, that was that.
Next up; cheerleading. I was a sideline cheerleader for three years before my favorite coach quit her coaching job. It was heartbreaking to most of my squad and most of us did not come back for tryouts the following season because of that. I decided to branch out with my best friend at the time and try volleyball my freshman year of high school. I fell in love. I felt pretty crappy at first because tryouts was the very first time I had even really touched a volleyball to be honest. I had a very basic understanding of the game but I really put my heart into, no matter how awful I looked. Towards the end of the season, I somehow managed to get a couple spikes under my belt and I felt like I could actually be somewhat decent someday.
Due to getting a job and trying to save up money to by myself a car I never got back into volleyball. I thought about trying out again during my senior year, but I thought that if I did I wouldn't have done well, so I shied away from it and I still regret that. I've signed up for intramural volleyball at college and I hope to play sometime soon because for as little as I did play it, I loved it.
I really do kick myself for not sticking with a sport. I can honestly say that it has made college a little harder for me. In the beginning of college when you're first meeting a bunch of new people, one of the first things that comes up in that first conversation is: "did you play any sports in high school". I usually just say no rather than explaining my whole story. They kind of look at you like they don't know what to say next because sports are a normal part of our language.
In all honesty, I also feel a bit jealous. My best friends, my boyfriend and my sister all played at least one sport since they were little. It was something they excelled at, something that tied them to bunch of people that became their best friends. I wish I would have stuck with the sport I loved. So my advice to you is to try out for many many sports and find the one you love. Once you find it, hold on to it and keep at it. It doesn't matter if you're a junior or senior on the JV team just because you found your sport later than everyone else. Otherwise, you'll wind up regretting your choices like I do now.
