Personal Narrative: My Athletic Life

What is the only thing harder than disciplining a dozen ten year olds? Disciplining them on ice! All throughout my life I’ve played sports, and no matter what sport it was, there was always one person who seemed to have it out for me…the referee. The referee is one of the most hated people in the world of sports, but is also one of the most crucial. I grew up with the mindset that the referee was the enemy. Whenever they made a call against me or my team, they were always wrong, no matter how obvious the penalty was. But one day, my whole perspective on referees changed---the day I became a referee.

From my earliest memories school sports have been a part of my life. When I was in elementary school I watched my older siblings play basketball, football, baseball, and even male cheerleading. I couldn’t wait for my chance to play on a team, and make a difference. I have been very fortunate to be a part of many great teams at Mandan. I have grown and developed not only as an athlete, but also a person through the athletic programs. Sports have taught me to be accountable, to show up on time, to work hard, to practice, and to push myself to the best of my abilities. They have made me mentally and physically stronger than I ever thought possible and taught me to help push other members to be the best they can possibly be.

My clinical rotation for the fall semester of my junior year is with the King’s College Men’s soccer team. As an athletic training student, I hold a lot of responsibilities regarding the prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, management, and treatment of these student athletes. Most of my daily activities can be separated into three groups, the pre-practice, pre-game, during the activity, and post- practice and post-game.

As a track runner, it is a necessity to be relaxed yet focused and determined. When I participate in track meets or even at practices, I receive a comforting warmth just by stepping onto the track. I feel as though burdens and worries temporarily lift from my shoulders. One may wonder how this can make someone content with their surroundings instead of nervous and uneasy based upon their environment and luckily for me this is an uncomplicated notion to explain. Unlike particular people, the track calms me and gives me a place to clear my head. I work relentlessly to achieve my goals, nevertheless it also gives me the clearance and space I need to effectively work my hardest whether it be a physical goal I am working to achieve

After waiting three weeks, I was finally cleared to play basketball again only to suffer another one. I was out after receiving an elbow to the head in a previous game giving me my first concussion. Walking onto the court at Eden Valley High School, I could feel the nerves rush through my veins. The whistle blew and the game started. I was going up to grab a pass when an opponent ran into me. Black. In those moments I was unconscious, I could only remember colliding with my opponent. I woke up in a car, my head aching as I sat up and saw bright beams of light off the street lights. The light stung my eyes and made me feel like the world was spinning a million miles per hour. “Stay awake sweetie we are almost home,” whispered my mom. Every heartbeat thumped in my head like a bass with the music to loud. I was so discombobulated and hurt I just laid there in the back seat

My plans when I get older where like every other child's. I want to be in the NFL. To get where I am you have to start at a young age. I showed up at practice everyday and on time. I also studied the play sheets and went through all my routes. I studied day and night to be where I am. It wasn't easy. There was no time to play games get in trouble do drugs or hang out with friend on an everyday bases. You have to tighten up be a man. It's not like I woke up one day and I was starting running back I had to do what's right stay in school not miss a day because that one day could have been the most important day ever and I wouldn't have even known. You know why?? Because I was and didn't show up to school. Don't be that person I used to be.

While proud of what I was able to do to give back my community, my only regret is that I was not able to assist in a couple of areas. The most regrettable instance of this is Franklin Township’s Varsity Football. While we did leave behind some important moral codes behind that has already begun to sow the seeds necessary for success, we could not bring back the winning culture Franklin Football had in the past. Looking ahead, I now know the tools necessary to being successful and will work to be a greater influence in order to aid towards that success. Additionally, I’d like to be a more vocal person. Waiting until the middle of Junior Year to take a leadership role was a poor choice, as that was not enough time to turn an entire program around.

I actively participate in a variety of extracurricular activities. Both seeing a need and having an interest, I along with some other girls founded our school’s first Athletic Training Program during my freshman year. In the program, we educate students on common injuries seen in high school sports. As the head trainer for our school’s swim team and girl’s track team, I attend to athletes’ sore muscles, apply wraps, and provide assistance to our new trainers (2015-2018). I’m also a leader within my school’s division of Future Health Professionals of America(HOSA), helping to energize the students preparing for healthcare jobs in the future. I became one of the founding members of Stem Moms in 2014, a program that educates students about

It was a warm summer morning on August 28, 1998 when my mother went into Sioux Valley hospital to give birth to a baby boy. After an agonizing 15 hours in labor, I was born. They named me Bryce meaning “Nobel One.” My full name was Bryce Jay Edberg, I got this middle name after my father, which his middle name was also Jay. Being born at exactly 4:03 a.m., with a staggering 23 inch body and weighing 10 lb 4oz the delivery was nothing less then painful.

To become an athletic trainer, one must complete courses such as Human Anatomy and Physiology as well as other courses that pertain to this major. These classes will help in learning how the body functions. I will also have to pass the Board of Certification exam and must be CAATE certified I could also volunteer at sporting events to get to know the environment around the players, coaches, and spectators from a non-athlete point of view. This could prove helpful because an athletic trainer will constantly be around sporting events and usually close to spectators, coaches, and players alike.

As a little girl, I was the child who would never let go of my parents. If anyone ever glanced over at me they would catch me either wrapping my whole body around my Mom's legs or begging my Dad to pick me up and hold me. Even worse, if any adults dare took the chance to come over and talk to me I would hide my face, thinking they couldn’t see me so I would never have to talk to anyone. I was shy. Simple as that, talking to people was something I feared the most.

A personal experience I have went through in my life would be making it to districts in track and field my sophomore year of high school. Making it to districts was a big accomplishment for me and my teammates because track is something that I take a lot of my time to focus on and do multiple hours of training so I am able to compete with the other athletes. I come from a small town in Ohio called Oak Hill. The sport track and field is something you do not hear that much about because our high school is not very big and very few athletes actually run track to make it somewhat far in competition, so for my 4x1 team to make it to regionals was a big deal for me considering it is something that does not happen that often at my local high school.

I have never been an athletic person. I was never very fast, or skilled in athletics, and I always preferred reading to running. But during the winter of my seventh grade year, a close friend talked me into joining swim team, and in the spring, several of my other friends talked me into going out for track. As it turned out, I still wasn’t good at athletics, and I still didn’t enjoy most of it, but I think it all ended up being worth it in the end.

To say that I've invested myself into the sport of Track and Field would be a gross understatement. I indulged myself in an almost cultic workout routine for what encompassed the majority of my sophomore years summer. I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into my training for one of my most anticipated seasons of Track and Field yet. With my regiment beginning at 10:00am and ending at 3:00pm everyday for almost 5 months, I felt more invested in it then anything else I had ever endeavoured on in my life. Needless to say, by the time the beginning of the season finally rolled around, I felt more prepared than ever to tackle the lengthy and vexatious sport.

Growing up, I was surrounded by the constant whirlwind of athletics. I rushed between softball games, swim meets, dance recitals, soccer games, and gymnastics performances. When I realized I couldn’t participate in all of these at once, I decided to focus on swimming, and for the next 10 years, spent 30+ hours a week in the water. As my team and I continued to grow, and train, so did our bodies. We endured pulled muscles, torn meniscuses, sprained ankles, and countless labrum tears. It wasn’t just them that suffered, but also their performance in the water.