4:00AM- Get up
4:15AM- Go for a run
5:00AM- Be at morning practice
6:00AM- Get home and shower
7:15AM- School starts
3:30PM- After school practice
5:00PM- Eat a quick dinner
5:30PM- Chores
6:30PM- Skills practice
7:00PM- Homework
10:00PM- Bed
4:00AM- Do it all again….
Now, this is just the schedule of a high school athlete. This doesn’t include the blood, sweat, and tears we put into our sport when no one is looking.
This doesn’t include the nights we’re up watching video after video after video of that our rival team.
This doesn’t include the hours and hours and hours we spend practicing that one thing. That one trick, that one move, that one landing. We practice and practice and practice until we get it right.
I’m sure you see us out in the pouring rain, freezing snow, and scorching sun. I’m sure you roll your eyes and think “what is the point?? It’s just a sport!”
But what you don’t see is the bonds we create. You don’t see every time we cry on our teammates shoulder. You don’t see every time we celebrate our wins together, and come together in our losses.
You don’t see us all gather around a table waiting to open those college letters. You don’t see us go the extra mile every time so that people will see us as more than just a “dumb jock.”
You see us on game days and you may walk past as we practice, but you don’t see what happens behind the scenes. You don’t see what a team really means.
So when that blown knee took me out of the game my senior year and you said “oh it’s just a sport, you’ll be fine.” You didn’t know what you were talking about.
You didn’t see that I lost my college scholarship.
You didn’t see that I lost the only thing getting me through my senior year.
You didn’t see that it wasn’t just a knee that broke.
You see us out on the field, but you don’t see what really happens.
So, next time you tell an injured athlete, “Oh, it’s just a sport. You’ll be fine” think about what they’re really losing.
Because to us, it’s NOT just a sport. It’s everything.