When you enter high school, people always say to join extracurriculars and clubs or teams. They say that it will make your transition more fun, and you will make friends more easily. I speak from experience when I tell you that my freshman year would not have been as fun or exciting if I had not played sports. So, trust me when I tell you to join a club or a team as a freshman.

Soccer is my favorite sport, hands down. I always knew that I was going to play soccer with my friends when we got to high school. I worked really hard the summer before freshman year to improve my skills and overall fitness so I would be ready for the season. I ran and worked on my foot skills with my brothers and dad. I stayed active so the fitness tests would not be a challenge. I also attended almost every captain led practice and skill session that I was in town for that summer. Those helped me figure out what the coaches would expect from us, and I was able to adjust my training accordingly. They also helped me to create relationships with the girls who I would be with for the next few months. I went into tryouts, not only having improved as a player, but knowing most of the team from our training that summer.

Going into school as a freshman was definitely easier since I was on a team. One of our senior captains texted all the freshmen players the night before the first day of classes. She told us she would be at the school helping out that day, and if we had any questions or needed help to go to her. She also reassured us that high school was a blast, and that we would all do really well. Having somebody (other than my mom) reassure me that everything would be fine worked wonders for my nerves. That first day of school was fine, knowing that I had thirty girls who had my back, and would help me out. It was also pretty cool being able to walk down the hallways and have some seniors wave and say hi to me. Having my soccer “family” helped me through those first few weeks, and the months after.

In the Spring of that year, I decided to play golf. I liked the game, and wasn’t absolutely awful at it, which helped. None of my friends like golf. They all chose to play lacrosse or run track. I stuck with golf, despite thinking I would not know anybody, and I think that has been one of the best decisions I have made in high school. Girls from both local high schools played on our team, and they were absolute sweethearts. My coaches were really nice and helped us all improve our game. I ended up playing in our first match that season! I played at least half of the matches during that season, which I think is pretty impressive, considering I was a freshman who hadn’t played many organized matches before that.

Playing sports during my freshman year of high school made the year so much more fun. I had practice or a game or a match almost every day after school, which kept me busy doing something I loved. As someone who loves being busy and doing things, I think that my freshman year would not have been as smooth as it was without my sports to keep me entertained. Though my freshman year is over, high school is still better with my soccer and golf families. Whenever I am having a rough morning, and I see one of my teammates in the halls, my day gets better. Trust me when I tell you, play your favorite sport in high school. So what if you’re not good? The memories are 100% worth it.

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