High school sports personal to myself - Essay Example

High School Sports Throughout high school I was involved in a variety of sports. Perhaps the sport I dedicated the most time and effort to was baseball. From my freshman year I joined the junior varsity baseball team, and later joined the varsity squad. During my high school years I dedicated many hours to after school practices and came to develop a number of friendships through my involvement in the school baseball program. Through my time on the baseball team and the various activities surrounding the team, I came to learn a large amount of positive and negative life lessons.

In large part I recognize that my experience on the high school baseball team was a positive experience. During my freshman year of high school I had just moved to a new town and did not know many people. Upon joining the high school baseball team I was able to meet and interact with a wide variety of individuals. This allowed me to become fully integrated into my high school as well as the new community. I recognize that having the opportunity to interact with a number of individuals under a common interest was a very beneficial element for my life.

It greatly boosted my self-esteem and confidence. The structure of high school sports was also a highly beneficial element for my life. Everyday after school I attended practice and participated in rigorous exercise. Now that I am in college I recognize that not having this structure and regular exercise effects other aspects of my life. I have now been required to fill in these elements on my own. Having this regular structure in my life I believe was good for my general health and motivation.

While it may appear counter-intuitive, the more active I was the more energy I generally had. This motivation affected other aspects of my life, such that I approached it with strength and vigor. Since leaving the high school baseball team I have been forced to struggle to fill these elements. While I recognize that high school sports contained a number of positive elements there were also negative elements that came out of my experience. In large part being part of high school sports was a collaborative environment, but it was also highly competitive.

In many regards the competition that was experienced on the baseball team was good for my life and made me a stronger person, however I recognize that were oftentimes negative aspects that came out of it. Students on the high school sports teams oftentimes took on an exclusionary perspective in regards to themselves and other members of the high school. I believe that this was unhealthy in many regards as they missed out on many of the positive elements other students and perspectives had to offer.

This is one of the negative aspects of the close-nit environment that was established through participation in the high school sports program. In conclusion, it’s clear there are negative and positive aspects of my participation in high school sports. I recognize that the positive aspects include the ability it gave me to meet a wide-variety of individuals and to improve my overall self-esteem and confidence. In addition, the structure of this system improved my daily life in many ways. Conversely, the inclusive aspect of high school sports had the negative aspect of creating an exclusionist attitude where many times members of the baseball team looked down on other members of the school, resulting in their missing out on the perspectives these other students had to offer.