More Than a Team 

By Ella Dellasanta

Do you ever get that feeling in your life when you don’t want something to end? The thought of it makes you feel like you won’t know what to do with yourself. I feel that way with sports, there’s nothing better than the bonds you make with your teammates and coaches along the way. I truly feel like I have met some of my best friends in life through the sports I’ve played, and not only that, but I feel like I’m the person I am today because of it all.

There are always those days at practice when you would rather do anything than run, or maybe it’s your coach that won’t stop yelling at you. For me, I have learned that all of these things, good and bad, have taught me lessons that I can remember throughout my life. It is crazy to think how much time each year gets put into practice, games, and everything else that goes into being part of a team. It’s more than a commitment – you have to want everything that the person next to you wants and you have to push not only yourself but each other to bring out the best in one another. It’s not always about wanting to be better than the person next to you, to me sports is all about your achievements that you can accomplish together.

One of my coaches once told me if you were going to punch someone in the face, you wouldn’t do it with your hand and fingers all spread apart, he told us it would be clenched in a fist together because that’s how teams work.  I remember all of us laughed because he is known for always telling the corniest jokes but it stuck with me. Of course, there are always times when I yell at someone on the court or field out of frustration, but if I put aside all that in the moment of anger, I know that I would do anything for my teammates and I know that they would do anything for me.

It’s more than what goes into just winning a game, I remember the little things like when I was younger and we would come up with our own names for out-of-bound plays at basketball practice. Or, the days after practice when my dad would get my team boxes of pizza to eat before going down and watching the varsity girls play who we looked up to in the biggest ways. I remember things like rainy soccer games, scoring a goal for the wrong team, 6 am field hockey practices, and orange slices at lacrosse jamborees that were so hot you felt like you actually were going to die. Then there are the bus rides; there’s nothing better than getting to play the speaker on full blast after just winning a big game. There’s also nothing like a silent ride home when you can’t even whisper for the complete opposite reason, fun times still I guess.

The memories are what is remembered and that is all that matters. All good things come to an end in life, for me I’m never going to remember the score of the last game I play, it’s the people I’m with and it’s the little things. We push and strive for the best in each other out of love and I hope I continue to make bonds like the ones I have for the rest of my life. That’s what sports are all about and that’s why teams are so special.