Personal Narrative: Ball Is Life

It was a hot summer day in Hammond, Louisiana and I was pouring down sweat like I had just jumped in a pool. The game was just about to begin, me and my team was eagle eyeing the bomb squad. It was so quiet that you could hear your own sweat hitting the bench. The umpire broke up everyone’s concentration by saying, “play ball”! The defense had ran out on the field and I started rolling ground balls from 2nd to short-stop to third base. They had all made good throws back to me and then I threw the ball into the dug-out because the game had begun.

Basketball was a new experience to me a few years ago, but i never realized I was going to love it. When I was younger, I’ve always wanted to play the sport of basketball, and I got my opportunity to play when I was in fifth grade at Monte Vista Elementary.

Long road trips, winning a tournament, making a game winning tackle, starting your first ever varsity game. Football gave me some of the best memories in my life, one’s that I will get to look back on to tell my kids, my grandkids, my wife. Playing my last ever highschool football game opened up my eyes to realize how fast life can go, and to never take something for granted. Memories football has given me gives me the ability to look at things differently, to remeber things that people have done for me. Football ever since I was a little kid was a learning block. Learning how to work as a team, how to be there for eachother, how to bring someone up that hass fallen. Those are just some things football has taught me which I will carry for a

For a lot of kids, it’s not until it’s all said and done, and they look back on it several years later, that they realize the difference the sport made in their lives. They are proud of playing the game. Have you ever met anybody who accomplished playing four years of high school football, and at the end of that run said, ‘Man, I wish I wouldn’t have played’? It doesn’t get said. Football players aren’t perfect. Nobody is. But millions of former players, one by one, can recount the life-altering principles they learned from football. They know the value of football is the values in football.That’s why high school football – and particularly high school coaches – play such a vital role in our society. Our football coaches are on the front lines of the battle for the hearts and minds of the boys in our society.

Lights blaring into my eyes, the crack of the bat, the shouting of the overly-devoted parents, the salty aroma arising off of the freshly roasted peanuts, all came together to create the overwhelming presence of a little league baseball game. This was a place where I spent most of my time on week day afternoons, in the spring, watching my brother succeed at America’s pastime. He was really quite good at this sport called baseball; he had just been granted the position of starting pitcher for the team. Sometimes things that have occurred in my life, and stuff I have received, that I may not have necessarily deserve, can be taken for granted. However, after what was about to take place my eyes are given a new perspective.

It was a brisk fall evening, and my seventh grade youth football team and I had traveled to Aberdeen to play the undefeated Chiefs. We had worked harder and longer than we ever had that week to show that we were a threat in the league and ascend from our third place ranking. We knew it was not going to be easy; the Chiefs’ team had the fastest running back in our division, and they had scored more total points per game than any other team in the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League. The field was neater and greener than we had expected in this town. It was a great day for football, and I was with all of my best friends. I knew going in that it was going to be a learning experience whether we won or lost that night because the Chiefs were

I fell in love with basketball 7 years ago. What began as a few trial trainings gradually grew into a deep passion for the sport. I realized that I had the flair for it as doing moves like layups came to me very naturally. All I had to do was to observe my coach do an example once, practice the move a few times, and I got it.

Along with NHS, being actively involved in varsity sports throughout high school has made me gain a “work hard” attitude. This attitude of constantly working above and beyond will carry over to my future education and career to help me succeed. As a two-year captain of both volleyball and cheerleading, I have learned to be a team leader while also being a team player. High school sports have instilled lifelong lessons in me such as working hard, being responsible, and being a leader, that I know will aid me in by success in academics and a

Could we get to the ball? If we don’t get the ball they well recover it. It was one of our first games in September. Our record was one, one and one. That means we won once, lost once, and tied once. It was at Unity Field (Home). We were started at 4:30.

Have you ever watched a game of T-ball? You’re watching kids with hats far too big for their heads, or bats too heavy for their arms to swing; it is adorable. I was one of those kids, and during a T-ball game the first signs of an issue that would haunt me for years to come appeared. In the dugout during a t-ball game, I was sitting on a bench waiting to go up to bat. A teammate asked me if the player currently up to bat was my brother. I turned to him and said, “That is my brodder.” He looked confused and responded with “He is your budder?” “No,” I countered, “He is my broffer.” With an even more confused look he asked me again, “He is your buffer?” Now I was annoyed. I thought I sounded normal, but he was looking at me like I had a third eye. “He. is. My. broffer!” I said, exaggerating the word slowly and condescendingly. That is where the memory cuts off. I don’t remember whether he finally understood what I was trying to say, or if I just gave up in frustration. Although this casual conversation may seem like a one time thing, it was not. My mispronunciation problem would follow me into fruition.

By participating in football people can learn sportsmanship, hard work, discipline, and teamwork. Considering the many lessons it teaches, teamwork and discipline play the main role. With teamwork, players/children are learning how to trust their teammates the more experience they have with each other. As for discipline, it teaches kids to work hard and set good goals which can be helpful for them in the future as opposed to not playing, and being a step behind. NFL expert Jobe Lewis says that “football requires a pretty unique brand of teamwork and requires the player to discipline himself and to work hard” (Lewis 1).

The influence that sports has on me and my life is astronomical. I have been involved with sports since I was 8 years old and have been learning valuable things ever since. While going through the numerous baseball and basketball games throughout my life, I have learned to always set goals for myself. Without goals there is no motivation for progression. As it’s getting closer to graduation, I have been thinking about what career I would like to venture off to in the future. As of now my goals are set on being a mechanical engineer. This goal encourages me to strive to do the best I can academically so that I can be accepted into an

It was just like a dream . It was the bottom of the 4th and I could not hit . Then Finally I got my hit , the perfect pitch finally came to me like it was the best pitch . So perfect straight over fence as i rounded 1st base .

Playing football has had the most impact on the development of my character. I started playing football when I was 5 years old. Playing football has taught me many valuable lessons. While playing football, I have better understood the values of hard work. Football taught me that the only way to succeed in something is by working harder than anyone else. Football has also taught me that when working with a team, everybody has an important role and if one person slacks off it hurts the entire team. There is no “I” in team and teamwork is a valuable life lesson. Whenever teammates are focused on individual accomplishments, instead of the team’s success, the team as a whole does not perform as well. I have learned through this that when you

Freshman year of football was an eye-opener for me, and the rest of the team. It was our first year in highschool and all the big changes distracted a lot of us. Us, as players, learned new plays and new techniques that we would use all throughout our years at West Delaware. I remember feeling swamped in all the new information that was thrown my way. Coach Morris, and Worden did an outstanding job of letting us process the new material and made us comfortable with what we were learning. Practices were very fun and laid back, but our performance on the field showed that. Yielding a 2-6 record that year, I recall my thoughts walking off the field for the last time after getting . I was thinking, “Is football for me? Should I really play next year?”. The question stayed in the back of my mind all through the winter. Eventually spring rolled around and I was forced to make my decision.